Could all our care elude the gloomy grave, Which claims no less the fearful and the brave, For lust of fame I should not vainly dare In fighting fields, nor urge thy soul to war.
— from The Iliad by Homer

In vain did I fly for refuge to the amusements of the place, and engage in the parties of Jackson at cards, billiards, nine-pins, and fives; a train of melancholy thoughts took possession of my soul, which even the conversation of Melopoyn could not divert.
— from The Adventures of Roderick Random by T. (Tobias) Smollett

For example, while 1 milligramme of Cobra -venom dissolves in from five to ten minutes 1 c.c. of a 5 per cent.
— from Venoms: Venomous Animals and Antivenomous Serum-therapeutics by A. (Albert) Calmette

We actually possess one undoubted specimen at the present day, whose very date is fixed for us by the circumstances of its discovery.
— from Anglo-Saxon Britain by Grant Allen

On October 12, a second victory, which he characterized as greater than that of Vienna, delivered it finally from the Ottoman yoke.
— from Historical Parallels, vol. 2 of 3) by Arthur Thomas Malkin

When viewed directly in front (fig. 10 ) its outline is oval, passing into shield-shaped.
— from A Monograph on the Sub-class Cirripedia (Volume 2 of 2) The Balanidæ, (or Sessile Cirripedes); the Verrucidæ, etc., etc. by Charles Darwin

A band of marauders flew upon the image of the Virgin, dragged it forth from its receptacle, plunged daggers into its inanimate body, tore off its jewelled and embroidered garments, broke the whole figure into a thousand pieces, and scattered the fragments along the floor.
— from PG Edition of Netherlands series — Complete by John Lothrop Motley