He had nothing better to do than, taking chance for his guide, to wander aimlessly through the streets of Yokohama.
— from Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

H2 anchor I Sit and Look Out I sit and look out upon all the sorrows of the world, and upon all oppression and shame, I hear secret convulsive sobs from young men at anguish with themselves, remorseful after deeds done, I see in low life the mother misused by her children, dying, neglected, gaunt, desperate, I see the wife misused by her husband, I see the treacherous seducer of young women, I mark the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love attempted to be hid, I see these sights on the earth, I see the workings of battle, pestilence, tyranny, I see martyrs and prisoners, I observe a famine at sea, I observe the sailors casting lots who shall be kill'd to preserve the lives of the rest, I observe the slights and degradations cast by arrogant persons upon laborers, the poor, and upon negroes, and the like; All these—all the meanness and agony without end I sitting look out upon, See, hear, and am silent.
— from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

Dwell I but in the suburbs Of your good pleasure?
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

In one shop there were a great many crowns of laurel and myrtle, which soldiers, authors, statesmen, and various other people pressed eagerly to buy; some purchased these paltry wreaths with their lives, others by a toilsome servitude of years, and many sacrificed whatever was most valuable, yet finally slunk away without the crown.
— from Mosses from an Old Manse, and Other Stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne

God ordains you to wipe out the sins of your vagabond brother.
— from Pan Tadeusz Or, the Last Foray in Lithuania; a Story of Life Among Polish Gentlefolk in the Years 1811 and 1812 by Adam Mickiewicz

But for you, sir, I am concerned at the trouble I give you; nay, indeed, my nakedness may well make me ashamed to look you in the face; and if it was not for the sake of your protection, I should wish to go alone.”
— from History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding

Give me thy word that thou wilt never give up the secret of yonder cavern to any save a lawfully ordained minister of the church.
— from Under the Storm by Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary) Yonge

I'll make some compromise for the sake of your miserable pride, you wretched creature. Write to me soon again, if it isn't a great bore.
— from Letters to His Friends by Forbes Robinson

This parenthesis was mental, and Sally went off to bed with a busy brain; but the sleep of youth and health quieted it; and if she dreamed of George Tucker in regimentals, I am afraid they were of flagrant militia scarlet;—the buff and blue were not distinctive yet.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 01, No. 01, November, 1857 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various

Where are the snows of yester year?
— from A Young Man's Year by Anthony Hope

“We might take some of your father's money and give it to him.”
— from The Copy-Cat, and Other Stories by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman

Not for the sake of your alleged soul, but because it’s liable to land you in a cell.
— from Buff: A Collie, and Other Dog-Stories by Albert Payson Terhune

And, therefore, worthy Sir, I pray you, by the salvation of your soul, and by the mercy of God, and your compearance before Christ, do this in sad earnest, and let not salvation be your by-work or your holy-day's talk only, or a work by the way.
— from Letters of Samuel Rutherford (Third Edition) by Samuel Rutherford

I know that some of you will, after a while, be furnished at the State's expense, but you can't tell which one, so buy where they're cheap.
— from The Universal Reciter 81 Choice Pieces of Rare Poetical Gems by Various

In the hope that some of your antiquarian correspondents may be enabled to throw more light on this very curious custom, I will merely add, that Morant suggests that it is possible some elucidation of it might be found "in the Evidence House in Hatfield Church, where (he says) are a great number of writings relating to the priory and lordship."
— from Notes and Queries, Number 65, January 25, 1851 by Various