I had the hardest task in the world to keep my hands off their pretty laughing faces.
— from The Time Machine by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

Having tasted no food since the dinner of the preceding day, extreme faintness made her feel the necessity of quitting the asylum of her apartment to obtain refreshment, and she was also very anxious to procure liberty for Annette.
— from The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe

I did not understand what these sixty-five thousand people lived for and by.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

And why should not Zarathustra also learn from the people, when the people learn from Zarathustra?
— from Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

The deficit was made up each year by a general tax, "which was paid neither by the nobles nor the Church, but was obtained entirely from the people" (letters from the ambassadors of Venice).
— from Manners, Customs, and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period by P. L. Jacob

The parties leaving for their shares, The shells (and shells there might be moister) From which the court has suck'd the oyster.[27]
— from Fables of La Fontaine — a New Edition, with Notes by Jean de La Fontaine

“Another old general, very well off——” The broken fan conceals the pretty little face.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

these small canoes are employed by the women in collecting wappetoe; with one of these a woman enters a pond where the Sagitaria Sagittifolia grows frequently to her breast in water and by means of her toes and feet breakes the bulb of this plant loos from the parent radicle and disincumbering it from the mud it immediately rises to the surface of the water when she seizes it and throws it into her canoe which she always keeps convenient to her.
— from The Journals of Lewis and Clark, 1804-1806 by William Clark

[ 26 ] A vast variety of cases .--Chamfort says of this passage: "La Fontaine, with his usual delicacy, here alludes to the king's farmers and other officers in place; and abruptly quits the subject as if he felt himself on ticklish ground."
— from Fables of La Fontaine — a New Edition, with Notes by Jean de La Fontaine

It gave General Leman the time necessary to prepare Liége for that resistance which has become, and will remain, one of the most famous episodes in European history.
— from Hacking Through Belgium by Edmund (Military historian) Dane

I never saw a man make tea, but after chucking in an ample quantity of the precious leaves from China, would throw in another pinch, either to make sure of there being a proper strength in the brew or for good luck.
— from Canadian Wilds Tells About the Hudson's Bay Company, Northern Indians and Their Modes of Hunting, Trapping, Etc. by Martin Hunter

Perhaps yon poor blind man, grinding away upon his hand-organ, whose natural eyes for long, weary years, have been closed against the profusion of beauty around him, has had the eyes of his understanding opened, and the pure light from the eternal throne illumes the depth of his soul.
— from Words of Cheer for the Tempted, the Toiling, and the Sorrowing by T. S. (Timothy Shay) Arthur

They saw the Pelasgians light fires in a semi-circle 21 around the cliff and noticed the smell of roasted meat.
— from Pictures of Hellas: Five Tales of Ancient Greece by Peder Mariager

The Holiness of God thus understood comprehends two things—the importation of all the wealth of His own Divine life to each free being who is willing to acknowledge His sovereignty, and who sincerely acquiesces in it; and the withholding or the withdrawal of that perfect life from every being who either attacks or denies that sovereignty, and who seeks to shake off that bond of dependence by which he ought to be bound to God.
— from Holy in Christ Thoughts on the Calling of God's Children to be Holy as He is Holy by Andrew Murray

It was necessary for Roosevelt to gain the good will of the party leaders, for without the support of the Republican machine he could accomplish little at Albany.
— from A Treasury of Heroes and Heroines A Record of High Endeavour and Strange Adventure from 500 B.C. to 1920 A.D. by Clayton Edwards

The battle at the perimeter still continued, since the massed malevolence of the Pyrran life forms were not going to call a truce simply because the two warring groups of humans had done so.
— from The Ethical Engineer by Harry Harrison

We are half of us now, like the Persian Lord, feeling if our heads are still on our shoulders.—I could add much to the conclusion of one of my last letters.
— from A Residence in France During the Years 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795, Complete Described in a Series of Letters from an English Lady: with General and Incidental Remarks on the French Character and Manners by Charlotte Biggs

Their portraits?" "And two pretty little fair-haired chaps, too!" "Fair-haired!
— from Tales From Jókai by Mór Jókai