I meant to ask you before—many people are unbelievers nowadays, especially Russians, I have been told.
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

"Although mine is of the Cachopins of Laredo," said the traveller, "I will not venture to compare it with that of El Toboso of La Mancha, though, to tell the truth, no such surname has until now ever reached my ears."
— from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

To which Don Quixote replied, “She is not of the ancient Roman Curtii, Caii, or Scipios, nor of the modern Colonnas or Orsini, nor of the Moncadas or Requesenes of Catalonia, nor yet of the Rebellas or Villanovas of Valencia; Palafoxes, Nuzas, Rocabertis, Corellas, Lunas, Alagones, Urreas, Foces, or Gurreas of Aragon; Cerdas, Manriques, Mendozas, or Guzmans of Castile; Alencastros, Pallas, or Meneses of Portugal; but she is of those of El Toboso of La Mancha, a lineage that though modern, may furnish a source of gentle blood for the most illustrious families of the ages that are to come, and this let none dispute with me save on the condition that Zerbino placed at the foot of the trophy of Orlando’s arms, saying, ‘These let none move Who dareth not his might with Roland prove.’” “Although mine is of the Cachopins of Laredo,” said the traveller, “I will not venture to compare it with that of El Toboso of La Mancha, though, to tell the truth, no such surname has until now ever reached my ears.” “What!” said Don Quixote, “has that never reached them?” The rest of the party went along listening with great attention to the conversation of the pair, and even the very goatherds and shepherds perceived how exceedingly out of his wits our Don Quixote was.
— from The History of Don Quixote, Volume 1, Complete by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

The constitution would therefore still be liable to the characteristic evils of class government; in a far less degree, assuredly, than that exclusive government by a class which now usurps the name of democracy, but still under no effective restraint except what might be found in the good sense, moderation, and forbearance of the class itself.
— from Considerations on Representative Government by John Stuart Mill

—En este ángulo ha habido un nombre escrito (respondió el maestro); pero hace muy pocos meses que ha sido borrado.—En cuanto a la pintura, no tiene arriba de treinta años, ni 15 menos de veinte.
— from Novelas Cortas by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón

si id ustum non est relinquenda.
— from Surgical Instruments in Greek and Roman Times by John Stewart Milne

A somewhat prevalent error in the training of children must not be passed unnoticed, namely, excessive rigidity.
— from The History of Prostitution: Its Extent, Causes, and Effects throughout the World by William W. Sanger

The Scouts, winded by the long climb up the muddy hillside, had been able to put up no effective resistance against the bolomen, who came in under cover of the smoke.
— from The Law of the Bolo by Stanley Portal Hyatt

As the Kabyles are totally unacquainted with the use of it, they could offer us no effectual resistance although they were double our number.
— from The French in Algiers The Soldier of the Foreign Legion; and The Prisoners of Abd-el-Kader by Clemens Lamping

"Guess the fire can't reach us now," Eben remarked.
— from Jess of the Rebel Trail by H. A. (Hiram Alfred) Cody

We use no exaggeration, reader, in describing this.
— from Under the Waves: Diving in Deep Waters by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne

"He understands no English," remarked Madame de La Fontaine.
— from The Inn at the Red Oak by Latta Griswold

Sometimes a pestle is set up near each row of pots.
— from Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 4 of 7 by Edgar Thurston

4. No Man need to Wonder at my exceeding desire to go up to the World in the Moon , having heard of such extraordinary Knowledge to be obtained there, since in the search of Knowledge and Truth, wiser Men than I have taken as unwarrantable Flights, and gone a great deal higher than the Moon , into a strange Abbyss of dark Phænomena , which they neither could make other People understand, nor ever rightly understood themselves, witness Malbranch , Mr. Lock , Hobbs , the Honourable Boyle and a great many others, besides Messieurs Norris , Asgil , Coward , and the Tale of a Tub .
— from The Consolidator; or, Memoirs of Sundry Transactions from the World in the Moon by Daniel Defoe

Nabdalsa post paulo experrectus ubi neque epistolam repperit
— from C. Sallusti Crispi De Bello Catilinario Et Jugurthino by Sallust