Down the lane they went, and dark enough it was.
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

thy wrongs are dearly paid; Yet with thy foe must die, or live, The praise that faith and valor give.'
— from The Lady of the Lake by Walter Scott

But now that we are determining what classes of subjects are or are not to be spoken of, let us see whether any have been omitted by us.
— from The Republic by Plato

The last-named work was the result of the author's ambition to write a dramatic poem which should duplicate the lesson of Romola ; and for the purpose of gathering material she visited Spain, which she had decided upon as the scene of her poetical effort.
— from English Literature Its History and Its Significance for the Life of the English-Speaking World by William J. (William Joseph) Long

you and I are the two worst amateur detectives that ever tried their hands at the trade.
— from The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

The words are different, but the facts remain undoubtedly true.
— from Dio's Rome, Volume 1 (of 6) An Historical Narrative Originally Composed in Greek during the Reigns of Septimius Severus, Geta and Caracalla, Macrinus, Elagabalus and Alexander Severus: and Now Presented in English Form by Cassius Dio Cocceianus

But remember, Lord, that we are dust, and that of dust Thou hast made man; and he was lost and is found.
— from The Confessions of St. Augustine by Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo

I chiefly paint my thoughts, a subject void of form and incapable of operative production; ‘tis all that I can do to couch it in this airy body of the voice; the wisest and devoutest men have lived in the greatest care to avoid all apparent effects.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

But the river—chill and weary, with the ceaseless rain-drops falling on its brown and sluggish waters, with a sound as of a woman, weeping low in some dark chamber; while the woods, all dark and silent, shrouded in their mists of vapour, stand like ghosts upon the margin; silent ghosts with eyes reproachful, like the ghosts of evil actions, like the ghosts of friends neglected—is a spirit-haunted water through the land of vain regrets.
— from Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka) Jerome

It has been objected to them with great warmth, and urged with much rhetorical exaggeration, that they assist the enemies of their country, that they prolong the war, and defeat those advantages which our situation and commerce have given us; imputations sufficiently atrocious, if they were founded upon truth.
— from The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Volume 10 Parlimentary Debates I by Samuel Johnson

“Yes; they’ve fooled us both,” cried Dana, and there was a deep silence in the house now, for the dinner bell had ceased to clang.
— from Nurse Elisia by George Manville Fenn

91 In Thought, Word and Deed.
— from Stop! A Handy Monitor, Pocket Conscience and Portable Guardian against the World, the Flesh and the Devil by Nathan Dane Urner

They told me also of the wood and dark mountains of the Hill Difficulty; of the lions; and also of the three giants, Bloody-man, Maul, and Slay-good.
— from The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan Every Child Can Read by John Bunyan

A fountain of foam leapt up like a plume of smoke; the pothouse expert blew it to the winds, and drank till the jagged bottle stood on end upon his upturned visage.
— from Fathers of Men by E. W. (Ernest William) Hornung

I used to feel that way at dinner, when out visiting any time of day, for hours.
— from The Unwilling Vestal by Edward Lucas White

She exclaimed, at the same time, with a distracted air, that " he had never seen France!
— from The Two Great Retreats of History by George Grote

Then there was a discussion as to what should be done; or rather a discourse in which Priscilla explained what she thought fit to do.
— from He Knew He Was Right by Anthony Trollope

"Ah, I know all about Princeton Platinum," she responded, showing her white teeth rather more than was absolutely demanded by the occasion; "besides, I've no money to put into anything."
— from The Philistines by Arlo Bates