On this very day it was that I became desirous to compile, in a connected form, for publication throughout the world, with a view to (universal) information, how that I bear inexorable and manifold retribution; inasmuch as what time, by the sustenance of the benevolence of Heaven, and the virtue of my ancestors, my apparel was rich and fine, and as what days my fare was savory and sumptuous, I disregarded the bounty of education and nurture of father and mother, and paid no heed to the virtue of precept and injunction of teachers and friends, with the result that I incurred the punishment, of failure recently in the least trifle, and the reckless waste of half my lifetime.
— from Hung Lou Meng, or, the Dream of the Red Chamber, a Chinese Novel, Book I by Xueqin Cao

There were continual outbursts, melodies, unexpected cadences, then simple phrases strewn with aerial and hissing notes; then floods of scales which would have put a nightingale to rout, but in which harmony was always present; then soft modulations of octaves which rose and fell, like the bosom of the young singer.
— from Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo

I understand only too well why wealthy Russians all flock abroad, and more and more so every year.
— from The Possessed (The Devils) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

There is a curiously humble estimate of his own powers (to which Dr. Bain has called attention), which reads at first sight as if it contradicted this.
— from On Liberty by John Stuart Mill

To begin with the coherence; we may observe, that though those internal impressions, which we regard as fleeting and perishing, have also a certain coherence or regularity in their appearances, yet it is of somewhat a different nature, from that which we discover in bodies.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume

Meantime, general humanity, (for to that we return, as, for our purposes, what it really is, to bear in mind,) has always, in every department, been full of perverse maleficence, and is so yet.
— from Complete Prose Works Specimen Days and Collect, November Boughs and Goodbye My Fancy by Walt Whitman

'Tis here that Beauty loves to rest: Describe the pangs of fond desire, Which rend a faithful Lover's breast.
— from The Monk: A Romance by M. G. (Matthew Gregory) Lewis

Within certain limits this savage’s intellect is the alertest and the brightest known to history or tradition; and yet the poor creature was never able to invent a counting system that would reach above five, nor a vessel that he could boil water in.
— from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World by Mark Twain

They are charming mirrors, each one of which reflects a fresh aspect of your lovely soul.”
— from Juliette Drouet's Love-Letters to Victor Hugo Edited with a Biography of Juliette Drouet by Louis Guimbaud

The passage comes later on in the article, but I may as well give it to you now:— ‘The popular cry of our time is “Let us return to Life and Nature; they will recreate Art for us, and send the red blood coursing through her veins; they will shoe her feet with swiftness and make her hand strong.”
— from Intentions by Oscar Wilde

So the visit was rather a failure than otherwise, and not very likely to be repeated.
— from Ravenshoe by Henry Kingsley

As amended the paragraph will read as follows: Any person occupying the position of engineer, assistant engineer, fireman, messenger, assistant messenger, watchman, or other subordinate position the educational test for appointment to which is below the grade of the educational test required for the position of clerk or copyist may at any time after absolute appointment, if not barred by age limitations, be transferred to any other of said subordinate positions, but shall not be promoted to the position of clerk or copyist or to any place the duties of which are clerical: Provided , That printers' assistants and skilled helpers in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Treasury Department, shall only be eligible for transfer to the grade of operator in that Bureau.
— from A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents Volume 8, part 2: Grover Cleveland by Grover Cleveland

By the artificial aid, therefore, of a ditch and a rampart on its east and north sides, this place was rendered a fortress of no inconsiderable importance.
— from Traditions of Lancashire, Volume 1 by John Roby

Let us suppose you have two golf balls laid on a table that is perfectly horizontal or level in every direction; they will remain at rest wherever placed, but if we elevate the table so that the raised end is half the length of the top higher than the lower end, the balls will require a force half their weight to sustain them in any position on the table.
— from The Library of Work and Play: Mechanics, Indoors and Out by Fred. T. (Frederick Thomas) Hodgson

The best warrior receives a feather of the black eagle; the most successful hunter obtains a robe of buffalo-skin, painted inside, and representing some of his most daring exploits; the most virtuous has for his share a coronet made either of gold or silver; and these premiums are suspended in their wigwams, as marks of honour, and handed down to their posterity.
— from The Travels and Adventures of Monsieur Violet in California, Sonora, and Western Texas by Frederick Marryat

In 597 the mission of Augustine landed in Thanet and was received at first with some hesitation by the king.
— from The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia Volume 1 of 28 by Project Gutenberg

“What? ran away from his exercise for the sake of an insect!
— from Life of a Scotch Naturalist: Thomas Edward, Associate of the Linnean Society. Fourth Edition by Samuel Smiles

Then Nuflo would rejoice and feast, rewarding them with the skin, bones, and entrails.
— from Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest by W. H. (William Henry) Hudson

His account of the usage is to the following effect:— On the first of May, and the five or six days following, all the young and pretty peasant girls, who are accustomed to bear about milk for sale in the city, dress themselves very orderly, and carry about them a number of vases and silver vessels, of which they make a pyramid, adorned with ribbons and flowers.
— from The Every-day Book and Table Book. v. 3 (of 3) Everlasting Calerdar of Popular Amusements, Sports, Pastimes, Ceremonies, Manners, Customs and Events, Incident to Each of the Three Hundred and Sixty-five Days, in past and Present Times; Forming a Complete History of the Year, Month, and Seasons, and a Perpetual Key to the Almanac by William Hone