But this splendid exaggeration, which even at present it would be extremely difficult to reconcile with the real state of mankind, can be considered only as the rash sally of a devout but careless writer, the measure of whose belief was regulated by that of his wishes.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

It is the method of knowing of the pure understanding, without which there could be no perception; there would only remain a dull plant-like consciousness of the changes of the immediate object, which would succeed each other in an utterly unmeaning way, except in so far as they might have a meaning for the will either as pain or pleasure.
— from The World as Will and Idea (Vol. 1 of 3) by Arthur Schopenhauer

This man, who was an admirer of Alkibiades, was entertaining a party of friends, and asked him to come.
— from Plutarch's Lives, Volume 1 (of 4) by Plutarch

“Why, even a poor fellow like me has a work from the Lord; and Mas’r St. Clare, that has larnin, and riches, and friends,—how much he might do for the Lord!”
— from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Without entering at present upon the investigations which still remain to be made into the nature of the fundamental compact underlying all government, I content myself with adopting the common opinion concerning it, and regard the establishment of the political body as a real contract between the people and the chiefs chosen by them: a contract by which both parties bind themselves to observe the laws therein expressed, which form the ties of their union.
— from The Social Contract & Discourses by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The meeting was generally felt to be a pleasant one, being composed in a good proportion of those who would talk and those who would listen; and the dinner itself was elegant and plentiful, according to the usual style of the Grants, and too much according to the usual habits of all to raise any emotion except in Mrs. Norris, who could never behold either the wide table or the number of dishes on it with patience, and who did always contrive to experience some evil from the passing of the servants behind her chair, and to bring away some fresh conviction of its being impossible among so many dishes but that some must be cold.
— from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Weak eyes are precisely the fondest of glittering objects.
— from Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources Including Phrases, Mottoes, Maxims, Proverbs, Definitions, Aphorisms, and Sayings of Wise Men, in Their Bearing on Life, Literature, Speculation, Science, Art, Religion, and Morals, Especially in the Modern Aspects of Them by Wood, James, Rev.

BIRDS AS SUPPORTERS Whilst eagles are plentiful as supporters, nevertheless if eagles are eliminated the proportion of supporters which are birds is not great.
— from A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, these are the words; enunciative and prophetic.
— from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle

I did not, however, find it necessary to leave Madam de Warens that I might love her the more ardently, for I was ever as perfectly free with her as when alone; an advantage I never enjoyed with any other person, man or woman, however I might be attached to them; but she was so often surrounded by company who were far from pleasing me, that spite and weariness drove me to this asylum, where I could indulge the idea, without danger of being interrupted by impertinence.
— from The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Complete by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

They were dismissed as soon as it could be done conveniently, without effecting any [Pg 128] trade.
— from Great Events in the History of North and South America by Charles A. (Charles Augustus) Goodrich

[The Peasantry.] GAUBERTIN (Claude), son of Francois Gaubertin, godson of Mlle. Laguerre, at whose expense he was educated at Paris.
— from Repertory of The Comedie Humaine, Part 1 by Anatole Cerfberr

He gazed with outstretched neck, like a long-billed crane that stands apart from the flock, on one leg, keeping guard with watchful eyes, and [pg 49] holding a stone in the other foot, in order not to fall asleep.
— from Pan Tadeusz Or, the Last Foray in Lithuania; a Story of Life Among Polish Gentlefolk in the Years 1811 and 1812 by Adam Mickiewicz

A blockade of Cuban ports was established and pretty well maintained, beginning along the central and western part of the north coast on April 22.
— from The History of Cuba, vol. 4 by Willis Fletcher Johnson

A similar pipe was also picked up by Lewis Jones, Brynffynon, on Coed Marchan, in the same parish, when he was enclosing a part of the mountain allotted to his farm.
— from Welsh Folk-Lore a Collection of the Folk-Tales and Legends of North Wales by Elias Owen

Crispin caught not his answer, but his half-whispered words were earnest and pleading.
— from The Tavern Knight by Rafael Sabatini

Such wild excitement as prevailed among the horses when the distribution of oats began, such plaintive whinnying and restless stirring!
— from Tenting To-night A Chronicle of Sport and Adventure in Glacier Park and the Cascade Mountains by Mary Roberts Rinehart

A sum of One Hundred Pounds, will effect a perfect repair.
— from Notes and Queries, Number 65, January 25, 1851 by Various

The arena is filled up with gardens, and though the whole site is perfectly well marked out, but little of the walls exist at present.
— from The Desultory Man Collection of Ancient and Modern British Novels and Romances. Vol. CXLVII. by G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James