now that I am far away, and out of danger, I say I should have done what I did not do: now that I have allowed my precious treasure to be robbed from me, I curse the robber, on whom I might have taken vengeance had I as much heart for it as I have for bewailing my fate; in short, as I was then a coward and a fool, little wonder is it if I am now dying shame-stricken, remorseful, and mad.
— from The History of Don Quixote, Volume 1, Complete by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Niebuhr’s estimate of his character is so just and free from prejudice, and proceeds from a mind which, in itself, was so pure and wholesome, that I will quote it: “All great dramatic poets are endowed with the power of creating beings who seem to act and speak with perfect independence, so that the poet is nothing more than the relator of what takes place.
— from The Satyricon — Complete by Petronius Arbiter

Susceptibility to one class of influences, the selection of what is fit for him, the rejection of what is unfit, determines for a man the character of the universe.
— from Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources Including Phrases, Mottoes, Maxims, Proverbs, Definitions, Aphorisms, and Sayings of Wise Men, in Their Bearing on Life, Literature, Speculation, Science, Art, Religion, and Morals, Especially in the Modern Aspects of Them by Wood, James, Rev.

After three o'clock the rush of worldly visitors was greatly increased and this was no doubt owing to the
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Now some of these thought it would be the best way to act according to the rules of war, [and demolish it,] because the Jews would never leave off rebelling while that house was standing; at which house it was that they used to get all together.
— from The Wars of the Jews; Or, The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem by Flavius Josephus

But here, before I conclude this part, I have shortly to answer the accusation of those men, which charge London with the loss and decay of many (or most) of the ancient cities, corporate towns, and markets within this realm, by drawing from them to herself alone, say they, both all trade of traffic by sea, and the retailing of wares and exercise of manual arts also.
— from The Survey of London by John Stow

Maman had two rooms, one with windows and two pictures in gold frames hanging on the walls, in which her bed stood and in which she lived, and a little dark room opening out of it in which Volodya lived.
— from The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

I recollected very well the form of the blade, and, as I was revolving in my mind the best way to produce something very extravagant but well adapted to the purpose I had in view, I spied in the yard of the hotel an old piece of leather, the remnant of what had been a fine gentleman’s boot; it was exactly what I wanted.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

“Not at this rate of wages I should hope,” said Mrs Carey, getting in a word.
— from Sybil, Or, The Two Nations by Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield

In November and December of the year 1877 and in May of 1878, Professor Zoellner had a number of séances with Dr. Henry Slade, the American Medium, in Leipsic, the results of which he has narrated in his "Scientific Treatises," and which he finds of special interest in connection with certain physical speculations with which he was before this time occupied.
— from Preliminary Report of the Commission Appointed by the University of Pennsylvania to Investigate Modern Spiritualism In Accordance with the Request of the Late Henry Seybert by University of Pennsylvania. Seybert Commission for Investigating Modern Spiritualism

THE REALM OF WILL.
— from Ants and Some Other Insects: An Inquiry Into the Psychic Powers of These Animals by Auguste Forel

Shrap winked knowingly, then trotted off to a secluded part of the chart-room, where, under a locker, he had hidden the remains of what, half an hour previously, had been Sub-lieutenant Fox's shaving-brush.
— from The Submarine Hunters: A Story of the Naval Patrol Work in the Great War by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman

One of his first visits was to Reissiger, chief conductor at the Royal Opera (where Wagner’s “Rienzi” was to be performed), and of the Royal Chapel.
— from Wagner as I Knew Him by Ferdinand Praeger

To hear the Retainer one would believe that the great smoother of difficulties, stimulant to exertion, and pacificator of quarrels was the "shtick."
— from Disturbed Ireland Being the Letters Written During the Winter of 1880-81. by Bernard Henry Becker

A terrible event happened within the next few hours, the report of which rang through Russia like a clap of thunder, convulsing the whole nation, and shaking for the moment the entire social fabric to its lowest foundations.
— from By Right of Sword by Arthur W. Marchmont

Christmas morning broke cold and clear, with a roystering wind from the north furrowing the Flow with translucent ridges of white-capped jade and chrysoprase.
— from Stories of the Ships by Lewis R. (Lewis Ransome) Freeman

128 The ravages of war and tyranny had provided many large tracts of fertile but uncultivated land for the use of those Barbarians who might not disdain the practice of agriculture.
— from History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 2 by Edward Gibbon

he wa'n't gwine ter run off wid it.
— from Scribner's Magazine, Volume 26, October 1899 by Various