The man, however, lingered there, expatiating on the quality of his coals—‘Acterly givin’ ’em away, and the gent wont have ’em,’ said he, addressing the neighbourhood in a loud voice: and the last that was heard of him was his anything but sweet voice whistling through the keyhole, ‘Will eighteen bob BREAK YER BACK ?’”
— from The Slang Dictionary: Etymological, Historical and Andecdotal by John Camden Hotten

I asked of him, “You can put off taking it,” I said, “till the angel enters to set me free; but if you do not then renounce by an oath the infamous trade which has brought you here, and which will end by bringing you to the gallows, I shall leave you in the cell, for so the Mother of God commands, and if you do not obey you will lose her protection.”
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

“If you do not beat him,” he said, “he will end by beating you;” and he spoke the truth.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

You will drink water, you will eat black bread, you will sleep on a plank with a fetter whose cold touch you will feel on your flesh all night long, riveted to your limbs.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

whiche do the worlde eschue Blessyd be ye that heuenly Ioye do loue Blessyd be ye in vertuous gouernaunce Blessyd be ye
— from The Conuercyon of swerers (The Conversion of Swearers) by Stephen Hawes

I must set down here, at risk of interfering somewhat with the thread of the story, two verses which were afterward written about this effort of the attorney's to curry favor with those who had come in the name of justice to rescue innocent men from prison: "At length their head man they sent out To save their town from fire; To see Ned Fanning wade Eno, Brave boys, you'll all admire.
— from The Boy Spies with the Regulators The Story of How the Boys Assisted the Carolina Patriots to Drive the British from That State by James Otis

For although he was English by birth, yet by reason of his education in Normandie , he was altogether become a Normane , both in affection and in behauiour of life.
— from The Lives of the III. Normans, Kings of England: William the First, William the Second, Henrie the First by Hayward, John, Sir

You will drink water; you will eat black bread; you will sleep on a plank, with fetters riveted to your limbs, and feel their coldness at night in your flesh!
— from Les Misérables, v. 4/5: The Idyll and the Epic by Victor Hugo

"Do you think that that stuff will ever bring back your strength?"
— from Monsieur Cherami by Paul de Kock

Seeing me anxious that his people should believe the words of Christ, he once said, "Do you imagine these people will ever believe by your merely talking to them?
— from Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa by David Livingstone

It was quite natural, too, that England should insist upon retaining this privilege, as something which no great naval power could afford to dispense with; for obviously, if in time of war your enemy can go on trading with every body but yourself, and can even receive timber and provisions from people not concerned in the struggle, your means of crippling him are very materially diminished.
— from The American Revolution by John Fiske

It is a melancholy attempt to turn Bible texts to picture puzzles, a book permitted by the unco' guid to children on wet Sunday afternoons, as some younger members of large families, whose elder brothers' books yet lingered forty or even fifty years after publication, are able to endorse with vivid and depressed remembrance.
— from Children's Books and Their Illustrators by Gleeson White

“To whatever height you rise,” said Luigia, passionately, “you will ever be below your past and the noble future that was once before you—Ah! stay; I think that I have lied to you; had you remained a sculptor, I believe I should have borne still longer your coldness and your disdain; I should have waited until I entered my vocation, until the halo round a singer’s head might have shown you, at last, that I was there beside you.
— from The Works of Balzac: A linked index to all Project Gutenberg editions by Honoré de Balzac