"Man can understand no eternal verity until he has freed himself from pretensions.
— from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda

I acknowledge that of [812] Tacitus to be true, Asperae facetiae, ubi nimis ex vero traxere, acrem sui memoriam relinquunt , a bitter jest leaves a sting behind it: and as an honourable man observes,
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

It may be based upon no eternal verity.
— from Visions and Revisions: A Book of Literary Devotions by John Cowper Powys

35:1 (Cærula distinguens inter plaga currere posset Per tumulos, & convalles, camposque profusa: Ut nunc esse vides vario distincta lepôre Omnia, que pomis intersita dulcibus ornant Arbustisque tenent felicibus obsita circum).
— from Sylva; Or, A Discourse of Forest Trees. Vol. 1 (of 2) by John Evelyn

Er ist in seiner Form nicht gut gehalten, sondern vorn etwas eingerissen, seine Zeichnung ist aber bewundernswerth erhalten, und erinnert sehr an den fast im ganzen mittleren und nördlichen Europa vorkommenden Sphinx Tiliæ , doch ist er wohl specifisch von demselben verschieden.
— from Fossil Butterflies Memoirs of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, I. by Samuel Hubbard Scudder

Tout à coup M. Eyssette devint terrible; c’était dans l’habitude une nature enflammée, violente, exagérée, aimant les cris, la casse et les tonnerres; au fond, un très excellent homme, ayant seulement la main leste, le verbe haut et l’impérieux besoin de donner le tremblement à tout ce qui l’entourait.
— from Le Petit Chose (Histoire d'un Enfant) by Alphonse Daudet

No one understood, not even Villa Kennan.
— from Michael, Brother of Jerry by Jack London

Still I was not unhappy, nor even very dull.
— from Monsieur Maurice by Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards

A prey to uncertainty, Napoleon entertained various schemes.
— from The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. Vol. 4 (of 4) by William Milligan Sloane