If it be so difficult to root out an inequality which solely originates in the law, how are those distinctions to be destroyed which seem to be based upon the immutable laws of Nature herself?
— from Democracy in America — Volume 1 by Alexis de Tocqueville

The tenants of the clergy were, like those of the great barons, almost all tenants at will, entirely dependent upon their immediate lords, and, therefore, liable to be called out at pleasure, in order to fight in any quarrel in which the clergy might think proper to engage them.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

Two other Pyrates were try’d that belonged to Rackam ’s Crew, and being convicted, were brought up, and asked if either of them had any Thing to say why Sentence of Death should not pass upon them, in like Manner as had been done to all the rest; and both of them pleaded their Bellies, being quick with Child, and pray’d that Execution might be stay’d, whereupon the Court passed Sentence, as in Cases of Pyracy, but ordered them back, till a proper Jury should be appointed to enquire into the Matter.
— from A General History of the Pyrates: from their first rise and settlement in the island of Providence, to the present time by Daniel Defoe

They showed me their trees, and I could not understand the intense love with which they looked at them; it was as though
— from Short Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The mention of the thing he thought he perceived was involuntary on Sam’s part at first, and his confused attempts to dissuade him he set down to a desperate lying on second thoughts, as being unwilling to implicate Liza.
— from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

It took nearly two months, but finally, under the impersonal lenses of cameras and recorders, the entrance port of the God-Egg swung open and revealed the dark interior.
— from The Lani People by Jesse F. (Jesse Franklin) Bone

We therefore distinguish the science of the laws of sensibility, that is, aesthetic, from the science of the laws of the understanding, that is, logic.
— from The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant

Hence it will be seen, that both internal and external parts of the human body are equally liable to the ravages of scrofula; and it is proper to remark, that it often commences externally, and after an uncertain time, it leaves the surface and attacks the internal parts, in which case it almost invariably terminates fatally.
— from Observations on the Causes, Symptoms, and Nature of Scrofula or King's Evil, Scurvy, and Cancer With Cases Illustrative of a Peculiar Mode of Treatment by John Kent

It must be understood that I learned most of these particulars afterwards, for they were still too far off for me to observe either their arms or dress.
— from Manco, the Peruvian Chief Or, An Englishman's Adventures in the Country of the Incas by William Henry Giles Kingston

Can't you understand that I love you?
— from At the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs

It is of no use that I love them all.
— from Doctor Pascal by Émile Zola

We cannot justly overlook the substantial services done in the same department by the New York Evening Post , under the management of its veteran editor, William Cullen Bryant, the poet; by the New York World , a new paper distinguished by the talent, incisiveness, and dignity of its articles; and by the Nation , managed by Mr. Godkin, an Irishman, 5 once connected with the London press, and which stands upon the intellectual level of the best European periodicals.
— from British Quarterly Review, American Edition, Vol. LIII January and April, 1871 by Various

But perhaps he does not understand them?" "Indeed, lady?
— from The Adventure of Princess Sylvia by A. M. (Alice Muriel) Williamson

You understand that I like them both most cordially.
— from The Crevice by William J. Burns

Solomon clave unto these in love.
— from The Bible, King James version, Book 11: 1 Kings by Anonymous

Mr. Melody and I visited the Indians in their apartments that evening after their exhibition was over, and taking a beefsteak and a cup of coffee with them, we found them still in high glee, and in good humour for gossip, which ran chiefly upon the immense looking-glasses they had seen (and “forgot to measure”), and the chickabobboo , which they pronounced to be first-rate for a grand feast , which it would be their duty to get up in a few days to thank the Great Spirit for leading them all safe over the ocean, and to ensure their safe return when they should be ready to go.
— from Adventures of the Ojibbeway and Ioway Indians in England, France, and Belgium; Vol. 2 (of 2) being Notes of Eight Years' Travels and Residence in Europe with his North American Indian Collection by George Catlin