And I understood none higher stature in this life than Childhood, in feebleness and failing of might and of wit, unto the time that our Gracious Mother hath brought us up to our Father's Bliss.
— from Revelations of Divine Love by of Norwich Julian

Newspapers lay strewn about the room, but these, like the meal, were neglected and unnoticed; not, however, because any flow of conversation prevented the attractions of the journals from being called into request, for not a word was exchanged between the two, nor was any sound uttered, save when one, in tossing about to find an easier resting-place for his aching head, uttered an exclamation of impatience, and seemed for a moment to communicate a new restlessness to his companion.
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

ANT: non-description, solitariness, uniqueness, nonclassification, heterogeneity.
— from A Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms or, Synonyms and Words of Opposite Meaning by Samuel Fallows

He recalled his former companions: how wretched they were; they rose at dawn, and toiled until night; hardly were they permitted to sleep; they lay on camp beds, where nothing was tolerated but mattresses two inches thick, in rooms which were heated only in the very harshest months of the year; they were clothed in frightful red blouses; they were allowed, as a great favor, linen trousers in the hottest weather, and a woollen carter’s blouse on their backs when it was very cold; they drank no wine, and ate no meat, except when they went on “fatigue duty.”
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

What does the word "noble" still mean for us nowadays? How does the noble man betray himself, how is he recognized under this heavy overcast sky of the commencing plebeianism, by which everything is rendered opaque and leaden?—It is not his actions which establish his claim—actions are always ambiguous, always inscrutable; neither is it his "works."
— from Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

No, no; wee'l use no horses: I perceave You would faine be at that Fight.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

I don't suppose he will be pleased to have the old mystery raked up; naturally he will fear damage to the firm.
— from The Master Detective: Being Some Further Investigations of Christopher Quarles by Percy James Brebner

"Think you our hands are made to handle penknives?" "Nor are ours made to wield scythes," said Arthur; and muttered betwixt his teeth, as he looked at the sword, which the Swiss continued to offer him—" Usum non habeo , I have not proved the weapon.
— from The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 13, No. 373, Supplementary Number by Various

On the other hand, if the chief of the United States Secret Service gets ahold of a letter from any one of them honorary German diplomats who is practically holding down the job of Imperial German Consul to the Bronx while drawing the salary of—we would say, for example—a New York Supreme Court justice, Mawruss, and if the letter says, 'Accept my best wishes for a prosperous and happy new year in which my wife joins and remain,' y'understand, that means the copper was shipped in pasteboard containers marked: PRUNES USE NO HOOKS."
— from Worrying Won't Win by Montague Glass

Education expenditures: 17.8% of GDP (2002) Government Kiribati Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Kiribati conventional short form: Kiribati local long form: Republic of Kiribati local short form: Kiribati note: pronounced keer-ree-bahss former: Gilbert Islands Government type: republic Capital: name: Tarawa geographic coordinates: 1 19 N, 172 58 E time difference: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) Administrative divisions: 3 units; Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands; note - in addition, there are 6 districts (Banaba, Central Gilberts, Line Islands, Northern Gilberts, Southern Gilberts, Tarawa) and 21 island councils - one for each of the inhabited islands (Abaiang, Abemama, Aranuka, Arorae, Banaba, Beru, Butaritari, Kanton, Kiritimati, Kuria, Maiana, Makin, Marakei, Nikunau, Nonouti, Onotoa, Tabiteuea, Tabuaeran, Tamana, Tarawa, Teraina) Independence: 12 July 1979 (from UK) National holiday: Independence Day, 12 July (1979) Constitution: 12 July 1979 Legal system: NA Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal Executive branch: chief of state: President Anote TONG (since 10 July 2003); Vice President Teima ONORIO; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Anote TONG (since 10 July 2003); Vice President Teima ONORIO cabinet: 12-member cabinet appointed by the president from among the members of the House of Parliament elections: the House of Parliament chooses the presidential candidates from among its members and then those candidates compete in a general election; president is elected by popular vote for a four-year term (eligible for two more terms); election last held 17 October 2007 (next to be held in 2011); vice president appointed by the president election results: Anote TONG 63.7%, Nabuti MWEMWENIKARAWA 32.9% Legislative branch: unicameral House of Parliament or Maneaba Ni Maungatabu (46 seats; 44 members elected by popular vote, 1 ex officio member - the attorney general, 1 nominated by the Rabi Council of Leaders (representing Banaba Island); to serve four-year terms) elections: legislative elections were held in two rounds - the first round on 22 August 2007 and the second round on 30 August 2007 (next to be held in 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA, other 2 (includes attorney general)
— from The 2008 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

Darussalam conventional short form: Brunei Data code: BX Government type: constitutional sultanate National capital: Bandar Seri Begawan Administrative divisions: 4 districts (daerah-daerah, singular - daerah); Belait, Brunei and Muara, Temburong, Tutong Independence: 1 January 1984 (from UK) National holiday: National Day, 23 February (1984) Constitution: 29 September 1959 (some provisions suspended under a State of Emergency since December 1962, others since independence on 1 January 1984)
— from The 1997 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

Why, the Germans bombed the front line hospital I was in, just after I got mine, and those girls never turned a hair, never looked up, never hustled, just went about laughing and cheering us up.
— from The Rising of the Tide: The Story of Sabinsport by Ida M. (Ida Minerva) Tarbell

A member of the guild of Ground Gleaners, who does us no harm and not much good, though it is a sort of game bird whose flesh is palatable, and it may be shot in the fall.
— from Citizen Bird: Scenes from Bird-Life in Plain English for Beginners by Elliott Coues

Until now he had hoped that Titus would, in the end, spare the Temple; but he recognized, now, that it was the obstinacy of the Jews that had brought about its destruction.
— from For the Temple: A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

Hamamelis: snuffed up nose. Hydrastis.
— from Merck's 1899 Manual of the Materia Medica by Merck & Co.