He knew nothing of pictures, but there was something about these that extraordinarily affected him.
— from The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset (William Somerset) Maugham

Bradford had not been bred to it, and was very illiterate; and Keimer, tho' something of a scholar, was a mere compositor, knowing nothing of presswork.
— from Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin

Such families know nothing of political events, although they are discussed at table; for changes in the Government take place at such a distance from them that they are spoken of as one speaks of a historical event, such as the death of Louis XVI or the landing of Napoleon.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant

Common affliction was an agreeable reverie to what she suffered, deprived of her parents, exiled from her friends and country, reduced to the brink of wanting the most indispensable necessaries of life, in a foreign land, where she knew not one person to whose protection she could have recourse, from the inexpressible woes that environed her.
— from The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete by T. (Tobias) Smollett

Within it were seen the twelve signs of the zodiac, the twelve months of the year, with their properties, the two equinoxes, the ecliptic line, with some of the most remarkable fixed stars about the antartic pole and elsewhere, so curiously engraven that I fancied them to be the workmanship of King Necepsus, or Petosiris, the ancient mathematician.
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais

[It is noted, in the Gazetteer of the Madura district, that caste matters used to be settled by the Mēttu Nāyakkan or headman, and a Kodāngi Nāyakkan, or priest, so called because he carried a drum.]
— from Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 7 of 7 by Edgar Thurston

Knows nothing of practical gardening.
— from A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle

No, Lady Caroline did not know Kate Lumley; and Mrs. Fisher, without asking the others if they did, for she was sure they knew no one, proceeded.
— from The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim

They know nothing of pure love, have no children, have no civil rights; their mothers and sisters weep over them as though they were dead, science treats of them as an evil, men address them with contemptuous familiarity.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

I know nothing of Pitt as a War Minister; but it affords me much satisfaction that the intrepid wisdom of the new Chancellor is introduced into the Cabinet.
— from Private Letters of Edward Gibbon (1753-1794) Volume 2 (of 2) by Edward Gibbon

"I know nothing of politics," he said to me a short time ago.
— from The Mirrors of Washington by Clinton W. (Clinton Wallace) Gilbert

Whatever de Hooghe could do in shade, Van Eyck in detail, Giorgione in mass, Titian in colour, Bewick and Landseer in animal life, is here at once; and I know no other picture in the world which can be compared with it."
— from A Wanderer in Venice by E. V. (Edward Verrall) Lucas

" On another occasion he is reported to have said, "I know nothing of predestination, whether it is green or whether it is blue; but I do know that the Advocate's pipe and mine will never play the same tune.
— from Life and Death of John of Barneveld, Advocate of Holland : with a view of the primary causes and movements of the Thirty Years' War — Complete (1609-15) by John Lothrop Motley

But were I to claim no higher aim, I should be doing injustice to my blood—to the great-souled gentleman whose whole life had been an ode to honour, to her of simple faith who had known no other prayer to teach me than the childish cry, “God help me to be good!”
— from Paul Kelver by Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka) Jerome

She kept near on purpose and tried to encourage him by smiles and nods.
— from A Little Mother to the Others by L. T. Meade

They know nothing of poisoning their arrows.
— from Maximilian, Prince of Wied's, Travels in the Interior of North America, 1832-1834, part 2 by Wied, Maximilian, Prinz von

I went up and stated the case, and they said to me, that they had authorized the mayor to employ a certain number, which I don't know now, of police.
— from Report of the Committee Appointed to Investigate the Railroad Riots in July, 1877 Read in the Senate and House of Representatives May 23, 1878 by 1877 Pennsylvania. General Assembly. Committee Appointed to Investigate the Railroad Riots in July

" "Ah!" exclaimed Jeanne; and after musing for a little while she added with a pout: "We know nothing!" Indeed they knew nothing of Paris.
— from A Love Episode by Émile Zola