A prisoner, who has neither money nor interest, discovers the impossibility of his escape, as well from the obstinacy of the goaler, as from the walls and bars with which he is surrounded; and in all attempts for his freedom chuses rather to work upon the stone and iron of the one, than upon the inflexible nature of the other.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume

But what he pulls from his breast pocket is not a pistol, but a foolscap document which he thrusts under the indignant nose of Ramsden as he exclaims— TANNER.
— from Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philosophy by Bernard Shaw

As we proceed we shall see always more clearly that these ideas of the first class obtain their explanation and solution from those of the fourth class given in the essay, which could no longer be properly opposed to the subject as object, and that, therefore, we must learn to understand the inner nature of the law of causality which is valid in the first class, and of all that happens in accordance with it from the law of motivation which governs the fourth class.
— from The World as Will and Idea (Vol. 1 of 3) by Arthur Schopenhauer

A prisoner who has neither money nor interest, discovers the impossibility of his escape, as well when he considers the obstinacy of the gaoler, as the walls and bars with which he is surrounded; and, in all attempts for his freedom, chooses rather to work upon the stone and iron of the one, than upon the inflexible nature of the other.
— from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume

He felt that if he had more intelligence than his fellow-men he ought to use that intelligence not only for his own good but for theirs; that he certainly ought not to use it for the purpose of gaining an advantage over those who were his intellectual inferiors.
— from The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Complete Contents Dresden Edition—Twelve Volumes by Robert Green Ingersoll

In order to understand the inner nature of this curious gradual revolution we must look briefly, first, at the general character 182 of the old Hebrew polytheism; and secondly, at the original cult of the great ethnical god Jahweh himself.
— from The Evolution of the Idea of God: An Inquiry Into the Origins of Religions by Grant Allen

Between man and his God they tell us there is no one but a Redeemer; but between woman and man's God there seems to be all her male relations, which, I should think, would prevent any very close intimacy.
— from Men, Women, and Gods; and Other Lectures by Helen H. (Helen Hamilton) Gardener

That these were often inappropriate was admitted; but the student was taught to understand them in no other than a chronological sense; so that the Chalk might not be a white cretaceous rock, but a hard dolomitic limestone, as in the Alps, or a brown sandstone or green marl, as in New Jersey, U. S.
— from Principles of Geology or, The Modern Changes of the Earth and its Inhabitants Considered as Illustrative of Geology by Lyell, Charles, Sir

You must be dead to us; there is no other way—no other possible way.”
— from The Redemption of Kenneth Galt by Will N. (Will Nathaniel) Harben

Let it suffice you to behold their works, and to adore them, and be persuaded that this is the way by which they manifest themselves to men, for among all the gods that are so liberal to us there is not one who renders himself visible to confer on us his favours.
— from The Memorable Thoughts of Socrates by Xenophon

We have heard several English people describe Talma's countenance, as by no means powerful enough for a great actor; it appeared to us, that in no one respect was he so decidedly superior to any actor on the English stage, as in the truth and variety of expression which it displays.
— from Travels in France during the years 1814-15 Comprising a residence at Paris, during the stay of the allied armies, and at Aix, at the period of the landing of Bonaparte, in two volumes. by Patrick Fraser Tytler

Thus, under the Indian name of Uppowoc , Hariot gives a description of the tobacco-plant, 16 which had been previously known to the Spaniards.
— from The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 5, May, 1862 Devoted To Literature And National Policy by Various