I mean a purse-proud villain in Russell Square, whom I knew without a shilling, and whom I pray and hope to see a beggar as he was when I befriended him.
— from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

By the way, I will describe an incident which illustrates pretty well the state of mind of to-day.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

That the demons gave in secret certain obscure instructions in morals, while in public their own solemnities inculcated all wickedness.
— from The City of God, Volume I by Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo

he cried in a hoarse voice, when I paused for a reply.
— from A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne

If not attempted, we will then start at the date indicated to destroy the railroad as far as Hicksford at least, and to Weldon if possible.
— from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson) Grant

I have undergone such unspeakable torments, in bringing forth this sermon, quoth Yorick, upon this occasion—that I declare, Didius, I would suffer martyrdom—and if it was possible my horse with me, a thousand times over, before I would sit down and make such another: I was delivered of it at the wrong end of me—it came from my head instead of my heart—and it is for the pain it gave me, both in the writing and preaching of it, that I revenge myself of it, in this manner—To preach, to shew the extent of our reading, or the subtleties of our wit—to parade in the eyes of the vulgar with the beggarly accounts of a little learning, tinsel'd over with a few words which glitter, but convey little light and less warmth—is a dishonest use of the poor single half hour in a week which is put into our hands—'Tis not preaching the gospel—but ourselves—For my own part, continued Yorick, I had rather direct five words point-blank to the heart.—As Yorick pronounced the word point-blank, my uncle Toby rose up to say something upon projectiles—when a single word and no more uttered from the opposite side of the table drew every one's ears towards it—a word of all others in the dictionary the last in that place to be expected—a word I am ashamed to write—yet must be written—must be read—illegal— uncanonical—guess ten thousand guesses, multiplied into themselves— rack—torture your invention for ever, you're where you was—In short, I'll tell it in the next chapter.
— from The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne

There is a widening of the sphere of thought which is peculiar to the vicinity of the grave; it makes one see clearly to be near death.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

Each man is in a boat, which is propelled by a boy with a bamboo.
— from Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 7 of 7 by Edgar Thurston

1726 Finishes translation of Odyssey 1727-8 Miscellanies by Pope and Swift 1728-9 Dunciad 1731-2 Moral Essays : Of Taste , Of the Use of Riches 1733-4 Essay on Man 1733-8 Satires and Epistles 1735 Works 1735 Letters published by Curll 1741 Works in Prose ; vol. II. includes the correspondence with Swift 1742 Fourth book of Dunciad 1742 Revised Dunciad 1744 Died, May 30 1751 First collected edition, published by Warburton, 9 vols.
— from The Rape of the Lock and Other Poems by Alexander Pope

Methods, on the other hand, as a general way of executing duties as they arise, calculated, as we have said, on an average of probability, or as a dominating influence of principles and rules carried through to application, may certainly appear in the theory of the conduct of War, provided only they are not represented as something different from what they are, not as the absolute and necessary modes of action (systems), but as the best of general forms which may be used as shorter ways in place of a particular disposition for the occasion, at discretion.
— from On War — Volume 1 by Carl von Clausewitz

—( a ) Though no act of pure will is possible, the soul may put forth single volitions in a direction opposed to its previous ruling purpose, and thus far man has the power of a contrary choice (Rom. 7:18— “to will is present with me” ).
— from Systematic Theology (Volume 2 of 3) by Augustus Hopkins Strong

At the time when Mhtoon Pah was standing in the centre of a gazing group before the new shrine, and trying to forget that nothing except the news of Leh Shin's hanging would give him real satisfaction, the Chinaman, accompanied by the Burman, slipped up the channel of gloom under the Colonnade and made his way into Paradise Street.
— from The Pointing Man A Burmese Mystery by Marjorie Douie

Nothing remains; O maid I tell thee, when I pass away.
— from Poems of William Blake by William Blake

Though Dr. Derek had been out all night he looked as if fresh from his bath; and no one could have supposed that this snack of new bread was in place of the breakfast he had missed.
— from Wastralls: A Novel by C. A. (Catharine Amy) Dawson Scott

Certainly these things may be classed among the very best works in painting produced by the master, because, in spite of the large number of figures, there is not one which is not produced with the most consummate art, being at the same time exhibited in an attractive posture.
— from The Lives of the Painters, Sculptors & Architects, Volume 1 (of 8) by Giorgio Vasari

Eluding, by a successful stratagem, the Bavarian general, Tilly, who was in pursuit of him, he suddenly appeared in the Lower Palatinate, and there wreaked upon the bishoprics of the Rhine the severities he had designed for those of Franconia.
— from The Thirty Years War — Complete by Friedrich Schiller

I lay it down, then, as a principle that either assent is intrinsically distinct from inference, or the sooner we get rid of the word in philosophy the better.
— from An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent by John Henry Newman

After having admired the plants of which I promised to make a favorable report, I was charged with a large and beautiful bouquet for the young ladies at the Grove.
— from Coelebs In Search of a Wife by Hannah More

The great excitement which followed this sublime piece of effrontery in educated and independent circles was in proportion with the stupendous contents of the encyclica.
— from The Riddle of the Universe at the close of the nineteenth century by Ernst Haeckel

Nitrogen does not burn, [5 bis] does not support combustion, is not absorbed by any of the reagents used in gas analysis, at least at the ordinary temperature—in a word, it presents a whole series of negative chemical properties; this is expressed by saying that this element has no energy for combination.
— from The Principles of Chemistry, Volume I by Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleyev