With other men he lived in a box car and away they went from town to town painting the railroad property-switches, crossing gates, bridges, and stations.
— from Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life by Sherwood Anderson

“In regard to the expenses of the journey,” continued our advisor, “his grace, my lord bishop, will not be backward, when once madam has proposed this holy work, to offer his charitable donation, and madam, the baroness, whose charity is so well known,” once more addressing himself to the continuation of his meal, “will certainly contribute.”
— from The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Complete by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

What various advantages would or might have resulted from a prolongation of such an extemporisation?
— from Ulysses by James Joyce

But he was silenced, or satisfied, by the dexterity of one of the cadhis of Aleppo, who replied in the words of Mahomet himself, that the motive, not the ensign, constitutes the martyr; and that the Moslems of either party, who fight only for the glory of God, may deserve that sacred appellation.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

He bowed me out, and I found myself in the street, hardly knowing whether I was on my head or my heels.
— from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

“Everything that has weighed on my heart since I have been the victim of your terrible selfishness?” He had grown red with surprise and anger and he growled between his closed teeth: “Yes, tell me everything.”
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant

Having reached the pavilion, she seated herself at the open lattice, and, while her eyes settled on the distant mountains, that overlooked Gascony, still gleaming on the horizon, though the sun had now left the plains below, 'Alas!' said she, 'I return to your long-lost scenes, but shall meet no more the parents, that were wont to render them delightful!—no more shall see the smile of welcome, or hear the well-known voice of fondness:—all will now be cold and silent in what was once my happy home.
— from The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe

Wherever I go I feel a want which oppresses my heart, for something better presents itself at the moment; yes, something better, which shall be the best of all; but where is that to be found?
— from Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen by H. C. (Hans Christian) Andersen

[3] And I understood by my reason and by my feeling of my pains that I should die; and I assented fully with all the will of my heart to be at God's will.
— from Revelations of Divine Love by of Norwich Julian

In the performance there has been some, perhaps unavoidable, delay; but I have the fullest confidence that my earnest desire that this business may at once be closed, which our minister has been instructed strongly to express, will very soon be gratified.
— from State of the Union Addresses by Andrew Jackson

I saw the captain of his company; [290] for though it was against my husband's wish that I should have anything to do with official matters, he did not object to this intervention; he only laughed at my credulity.
— from Tenting on the Plains; or, General Custer in Kansas and Texas by Elizabeth Bacon Custer

If the expected War of Movement had taken place, with a North Sea dotted with racing cruisers, and ships of both sides looking for a fight, every boat in our service would have been in the thick of the trouble.
— from The Story of Our Submarines by John Graham Bower

If they did, they would know that there was something wrong when one man has $50,000,00 while another has not enough to get his shoes cobbled: and another has 50,000 acres of land, while others must be buried four in a grave.
— from Confiscation; An Outline by William Greenwood

I am about to confide this child to the care of two gentlewomen, poor, but of good birth and character, whom unjust laws and the wickedness of men have condemned to imprisonment.
— from The Chaplain of the Fleet by James Rice

I shall hope and pray that you who are now stepping into the ranks as workers for the Lord will avoid many mistakes that we older ministers have made.
— from Trials and Triumphs of Faith by Mary Cole

A SONG OF DEFEAT The line breaks and the guns go under, The lords and the lackeys ride the plain; I draw deep breaths of the dawn and thunder, And the whole of my heart grows young again.
— from Poems by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton

You will be sorry to hear of the misfortune which overtook M. Humann this morning; he has just had an apoplectic stroke and there is no hope of his recovery.
— from Memoirs of the Duchesse De Dino (Afterwards Duchesse de Talleyrand et de Sagan), 1841-1850 by Dino, Dorothée, duchesse de

It would only make her miserable for nothing.
— from Living Too Fast; Or, The Confessions of a Bank Officer by Oliver Optic

One can hardly imagine, to see him sitting over there so dejectedly, that off on the floor of the Pacific, years ago, and utterly unseen of the world of men, he lived such a transcendent moment, that such a romance came to him under the sun that we all know.
— from Under Sail by Lincoln Colcord