To this replied Otanes: "Son of Hystaspes, thou art the scion of a noble stock, and thou art showing thyself, as it seems, in no way inferior to thy father: do not however hasten this enterprise so much without consideration, but take it up more prudently; for we must first become more in numbers, and then undertake the matter.
— from The History of Herodotus — Volume 1 by Herodotus

“Baffled in all my attempts, I despaired of seeing my play acted; and bethought myself of choosing some employment that might afford a sure, though mean subsistence; but my landlord, to whom I was by this time considerably indebted, and who had laid his account with having his money paid all in a heap from the profits of my third night, could not brook his disappointment, therefore made another effort in my behalf, and, by dint of interest, procured a message from a lady of fashion to Mr. Brayer, who had always professed a great veneration for her, desiring that he would set up my play forthwith, and assuring him that she and all her friends would support it in the performance.
— from The Adventures of Roderick Random by T. (Tobias) Smollett

“My first impulse, on coming to myself, was to feel under my pillow for the knife I had not been able to reach; if it had not been useful for defense, it might at least serve for expiation.
— from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

of Alderman Viner upon my pretended freight of the “William” for Tangier, which overbears me on one side with joy and on the other to think of my condition if I shall be called into examination about it, and (though in strictness it is due) not be able to give a good account of it.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

If you will only lead in a theistic science, as successfully as you have led in a scientific theology, your separate name as Unitarians may perish from the mouths of men; for your task will have been done, and your function at an end.
— from The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy by William James

[ The name which, used by Ptolemy and Pliny in a more confined, by Ammianus and Procopius in a larger, sense, has been derived, ridiculously, from Sarah, the wife of Abraham, obscurely from the village of Saraka, (Stephan. de Urbibus,) more plausibly from the Arabic words, which signify a thievish character, or Oriental situation, (Hottinger, Hist.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

My hosts overwhelmed me with attentions, and forced upon me pastry, fruit, and bonbons; but the crowd who had followed me forced their way into the building, and hemmed us in on all sides; even the roof was covered with gazers.
— from Travels in the Central Parts of Indo-China (Siam), Cambodia, and Laos (Vol. 1 of 2) During the Years 1858, 1859, and 1860 by Henri Mouhot

‘Wery much obliged to you, old fellers,’ said Sam, ladling away at the punch in the most unembarrassed manner possible, ‘for this here compliment; which, comin’ from sich a quarter, is wery overvelmin’.
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

The classical side of the poetry of the Middle Ages had so far only faintly dawned upon me, partly from my youthful recollections, and partly from the brief acquaintance I had made with it through Lehrs' instruction in Paris.
— from My Life — Volume 1 by Richard Wagner

"Would you think that animal, called a man, ever rose from his dulness to revenge himself upon my person, for affronts he dared not revenge upon a fishmonger?"
— from The Manoeuvring Mother (vol. 2 of 3) by Bury, Charlotte Campbell, Lady

There are several varieties found in these waters, and the usual market price for the oil and skin is five dollars.
— from A Tour to the River Saguenay, in Lower Canada by Charles Lanman

"You can choose any likely or unlikely movement possible for a horse," he said; "only I should prefer that it did not roll."
— from The Chariot of the Flesh by Hedley Peek

He brought down his fist upon my pretty, fragile table with a crash.
— from The Crime and the Criminal by Richard Marsh

"Dear Mr. Jardine,—I have taken up my pen for only two purposes since I left London—to write my weekly letter to my guardian—and to thank you over and over again.
— from Tante by Anne Douglas Sedgwick

From particle to particle without cessation the movement passes on, reappearing from moment to moment under myriad Protean forms, while the rearrangements of particles incidental to the movement constitute the qualitative differences among things.
— from The Idea of God as Affected by Modern Knowledge by John Fiske

With true Mississippi taste, he has placed his handsome villa in the midst of a forest; but the majestic beauty of the lofty trees, as surveyed from the gallery, and the solemn grandeur of the primeval forests which inclose his dwelling on all sides, struck me, at the moment, as far superior to any display of art in ornamental grounds, and nearly unhinged my predilection for artificial scenery.
— from The South-West, by a Yankee. In Two Volumes. Volume 2 by J. H. (Joseph Holt) Ingraham

[Mr. Wade]—an assault upon my personal friend, a man who for two years sat side by side with me here, whom I learned to respect and admire for his pluck, his ability, and integrity, and to love for his manly virtues; a man whom I originally selected as the candidate of the Republican party for the second office within the gift of that party; a man whom I urged on the Republican convention at Baltimore as their candidate; a man whose election I did my utmost to secure against the efforts of the Senator from Ohio.
— from History of the Thirty-Ninth Congress of the United States by William Horatio Barnes

But Chaucer must have included an eighth climate (called ultra Mæotides paludes ) from 50° to 56°; and a ninth , from 56° to the pole.
— from Chaucer's Works, Volume 3 (of 7) — The House of Fame; The Legend of Good Women; The Treatise on the Astrolabe; The Sources of the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer