Grim Mars of awful voice did not yet know that his son had fallen, for he was sitting on the summits of Olympus under the golden clouds, by command of Jove, where the other gods were also sitting, forbidden to take part in the battle.
— from The Iliad by Homer

As a tree that is heavy laden with fruit breaks her own boughs, with their own greatness they ruin themselves: which Joachimus Camerarius hath elegantly expressed in his 13 Emblem cent.
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

This translation has been made from the edition of C. Sintenis, Leipzig, 1839, and I have compared the text of Sintenis with that of G.H. Schaefer, Leipzig, 1826, which has been severely criticized: this edition contains, however, some useful notes.
— from Plutarch's Lives, Volume 1 (of 4) by Plutarch

Between these he made the four Evangelists, wrought very well in fresco, of extraordinary size in comparison with the figures that at that time were customary, with a S. Peter and a S. Paul, and a good number of figures in a ship, wherein, the Greek manner pleasing him much, he blended it ever with that of Giotto; and since he delighted to give relief to his figures, it is recognized that he used thereunto the greatest efforts that can be imagined by man.
— from Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects, Vol. 01 (of 10) Cimabue to Agnolo Gaddi by Giorgio Vasari

If there was anyone left to stay with the old gentleman, I'd do it tomorrow.
— from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

He was then taken into the parlour to be inspected in his new clothes; and when he had been surveyed several times, and had afforded by his appearance unlimited satisfaction, he was taken into the stable (where the pony received him with uncommon complaisance); and thence into the little chamber he had already observed, which was very clean and comfortable: and thence into the garden, in which the old gentleman told him he would be taught to employ himself, and where he told him, besides, what great things he meant to do to make him comfortable, and happy, if he found he deserved it.
— from The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

That's what the old girl started on.
— from Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Then it would not be wrong to shoot them with their own guns, heh?' 'One is paid, I think, already,' said Kim between his teeth.
— from Kim by Rudyard Kipling

" Now, Laurie felt just then that his heart was entirely broken and the world a howling wilderness, but at the sound of certain words which the old gentleman artfully introduced into his closing sentence, the broken heart gave an unexpected leap, and a green oasis or two suddenly appeared in the howling wilderness.
— from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

To say that each grain of the head is personally identical with the original grain would perhaps be an abuse of terms; but it can be no abuse to say that each grain is a continuation of the personality of the original grain, and if so, of every grain in the chain of its own ancestry; and that, as being such a continuation, it must be stored with the memories and experiences of its past existences, to be recollected under the circumstances most favourable to recollection, i.e. , when under similar conditions to those when the impression was last made and last remembered.
— from Life and Habit by Samuel Butler

The treaty between the United Netherlands and England had been followed by an embargo upon English vessels, persons, and property, in the ports of Spain; and after five years of unwonted repose, the privateersman again set forth with twenty-five small vessels—of which five or six only were armed—under his command, conjoined with that of General Carlisle.
— from History of the United Netherlands from the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce — Complete (1584-1609) by John Lothrop Motley

A plough possesses five essential features,—a frame or beam to which the horses are attached and which is provided with handles by which the operator guides the plough, a share to sever the bottom of a slice of land—the furrow—from the land beneath, a mould board following the share to turn the furrow over [Pg 18] to one side, and a landside, the side opposite the mould board and which presses against the unploughed ground and steadies the plough.
— from Inventions in the Century by William Henry Doolittle

It was studded with islands which, like the alluvial bottoms, were covered with groves of cotton-wood, thickets of willow, tracts of good lowland grass, and abundance of green rushes.
— from The Adventures of Captain Bonneville, U. S. A., in the Rocky Mountains and the Far West by Washington Irving

Every 18th of March witnesses thousands of gatherings throughout the civilised world to commemorate the (alas!
— from British Socialism An Examination of Its Doctrines, Policy, Aims and Practical Proposals by J. Ellis Barker

Now came the question whether Thurstane or Glover should remain last on the ledge.
— from Overland: A Novel by John William De Forest

We talk of going over for a short time, but have not decided when; yet it will be soon perhaps—it may.
— from The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Volume 2 of 2) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

A heifer and a colt were feeding close to us with the tranquillity which tells of good masters, and I heard the joyful barking of dogs.
— from Life of Charles Darwin by G. T. (George Thomas) Bettany

Mr Reddypalm was the one great man of the contest.
— from Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope