No relief for Gibraltar would have been more efficacious; no diversion surer for the West India Islands; and the Americans would have appealed in vain for the help, scantily given [418] as it was, of the French fleet.
— from The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 by A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan

I had no occasion of bribing, flattering, or pimping, to procure the favour of any great man, or of his minion; I wanted no fence against fraud or oppression: here was neither physician to destroy my body, nor lawyer to ruin my fortune; no informer to watch my words and actions, or forge accusations against me for hire: here were no gibers, censurers, backbiters, pickpockets, highwaymen, housebreakers, attorneys, bawds, buffoons, gamesters, politicians, wits, splenetics, tedious talkers, controvertists, ravishers, murderers, robbers, virtuosos; no leaders, or followers, of party and faction; no encouragers to vice, by seducement or examples; no dungeon, axes, gibbets, whipping-posts, or pillories; no cheating shopkeepers or mechanics; no pride, vanity, or affectation; no fops, bullies, drunkards, strolling whores, or poxes; no ranting, lewd, expensive wives; no stupid, proud pedants; no importunate, overbearing, quarrelsome, noisy, roaring, empty, conceited, swearing companions; no scoundrels raised from the dust upon the merit of their vices, or nobility thrown into it on account of their virtues; no lords, fiddlers, judges, or dancing-masters.
— from Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World by Jonathan Swift

He was ploughing in a field when he suddenly stopped from his labour, and with a wild look and strange gesture, exclaimed, “ Now, Dick!
— from Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay

As we be here in our bodies on this high ground, so be they in their minds—noble-minded men enough, no doubt—some on 'em—able to earn hundreds by thinking out loud.
— from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy

Emily now dismissed him; and, with trembling hands, prepared the small
— from The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe

You understand the business to some extent now, don't you?
— from The Hungry Stones, and Other Stories by Rabindranath Tagore

He approached a black frame which was suspended on the wall, and which contained, under glass, an ancient autograph letter of Jean Nicolas Pache, mayor of Paris and minister, and dated, through an error, no doubt, the 9th of June , of the year II., and in which Pache forwarded to the commune the list of ministers and deputies held in arrest by them.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

We say Aramis, because the young man entertained no doubt that it was his friend who held this dialogue from the interior with the lady of the exterior.
— from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

Ere yet the dawn had ushered in The day should see the march begin, Herald and bard who rightly knew Each nice degree of honour due, Their loud auspicious voices raised, And royal Bharat blessed and praised.
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki

The boys could hardly be restrained from clutching at each new dish.
— from A Spoil of Office: A Story of the Modern West by Hamlin Garland

$39.95 billion (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars Lesotho $3.301 billion (2008 est.) $3.091 billion (2007 est.)
— from The 2009 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

It is the first prince, he adds, from whom came the name Tartar —not from a river called Tata, as some have stated—while of the second: “ Le terme Mung’l a esté changé par une corruption generale en Mogull; Mung veut dire triste ou un homme triste , et parceque ce prince estoit naturellement d’une humeur fort triste,
— from The Middle Kingdom, Volume 1 (of 2) A Survey of the Geography, Government, Literature, Social Life, Arts, and History of the Chinese Empire and its Inhabitants by S. Wells (Samuel Wells) Williams

He remembered of a sudden how he had rewritten the spy's message to the commander at Ciudad Rodrigo, giving supposed plans of his commanding officer which were likely enough, no doubt, but happened to be merely the result of guesswork.
— from With Wellington in Spain: A Story of the Peninsula by F. S. (Frederick Sadleir) Brereton

And to those who have not thus suffered and endured, no description would adequately portray the desolation and gloom.
— from Beulah by Augusta J. (Augusta Jane) Evans

“ Firmissime tene et nullatenus dubites, omnem hominem, qui per concubitum viri et mulieris concipitur, cum originali peccato nasci....
— from The Essence of Christianity Translated from the second German edition by Ludwig Feuerbach

I do not believe that the highest end of life upon earth is to "have a good time to get from it the utmost amount of enjoyment;" but to be truly and greatly GOOD; and that to that end no discipline can be too severe which leads us "to suffer and be strong."
— from The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Complete Contents Dresden Edition—Twelve Volumes by Robert Green Ingersoll

Of the upper work of the edifice no description can be attempted, though several dressed boards ( Nos. 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 13 , on a scale of ⅛ inch to a foot), that had evidently formed part of the structure, were found scattered about.
— from The Lake Dwellings of Ireland Or ancient lacustrine habitations of Erin, commonly called crannogs. by W. G. (William Gregory) Wood-Martin