You said one year—three years—then surely Dad would relent and take us back, or give us some money.
— from The Pot Boiler: A Comedy in Four Acts by Upton Sinclair

It is a remarkable phenomenon of our time that all our literary men are bent on giving us such elaborate and solemnising confessions of their faith.
— from Among Famous Books by John Kelman

A wild sow, which by chance had been suckled by a bitch famous for her nose, became, on growing up, so wonderfully active in the pursuit of wild animals, that in the faculty of scent she was greatly superior to dogs, who are assisted by natural instinct, as well as by human art; an argument that man (as well as every other animal) contracts the nature of the female who nurses him.
— from The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin Through Wales by Cambrensis Giraldus

He saw steadier eyes, and the sign of manhood set like a bar of gold upon steadier lips.
— from The Longest Journey by E. M. (Edward Morgan) Forster

"A swell bunch of grafters Uncle Sam turned 183 back when he let go of the roads, eh?" says I. "It's the same in the freight department," says Vincent.
— from Torchy As A Pa by Sewell Ford

“What a bore, this business of growing up,” sighed Penny.
— from Danger at the Drawbridge by Mildred A. (Mildred Augustine) Wirt

While your majesty and your wise counsellors are gravely deliberating in the cabinet, we have nought else to do but dance, and drink, and sing in the hall; and I am sure you, sire, would not have us behind the Italian in dancing and drinking, when they go so far before us in singing; but only give us something else to do, and we are ready to ride, or fight, or work in any way tomorrow."
— from Leonora D'Orco: A Historical Romance by G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James

And I would charge my penitent to go away forthwith and commit some practicable saving irregularity; to fast or get drunk or climb a mountain or sup on pork and beans or give up smoking or spend a month with publicans and sinners.
— from First and Last Things: A Confession of Faith and Rule of Life by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells