When I freely express my opinion, I have so little idea of claiming authority that I always give my reasons, so that you may weigh and judge them for yourselves; but though I would not obstinately defend my ideas, I think it
— from Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The study of history is useful to the historian by teaching him his ignorance of women; and the mass of this ignorance crushes one who is familiar enough with what are called historical sources to realize how few women have ever been known.
— from The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams

Although much remains obscure, and will long remain obscure, I can entertain no doubt, after the most deliberate study and dispassionate judgment of which I am capable, that the view which most naturalists until recently entertained, and which I formerly entertained—namely, that each species has been independently created—is erroneous.
— from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection Or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, 6th Edition by Charles Darwin

Since I have been used to resort hither, I have seen give out every day to a multitude of poor folk now one and now two vast great cauldrons of broth, which had been taken away from before yourself and the other brethren of this convent, as superfluous; wherefore, if for each one of these cauldrons of broth there be rendered you an hundred in the world to come, you will have so much thereof that you will assuredly all be drowned therein.'
— from The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio by Giovanni Boccaccio

Whoever is fortunate enough in rightly perceiving what chance is, is fortunate in the conduct of his trial.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross

But whether it does so likewise with regard to that part of its capital for which the receipts are long ago expired, for which, in ordinary and quiet times, it cannot be called upon, and which, in reality, is very likely to remain with it for ever, or as long as the states of the United Provinces subsist, may perhaps appear more uncertain.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

I really could not help laughing, which I fear encouraged him, for he went on.
— from Evelina, Or, the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World by Fanny Burney

The languages of Europe were enriched by Japanese terms, such as soy, moxa, goban, japan (lacquer or varnish), etc., while the tongue of Nippon received an infusion of new terms, 2 and a notable list of inventions was imported from Europe.
— from The Religions of Japan, from the Dawn of History to the Era of Méiji by William Elliot Griffis

The Physiological Action of Coffee Drinking of coffee by mankind may be attributed to three causes: the demand for, and the pleasing effects of, a hot drink (a very small percentage of the coffee consumed is taken cold), the pleasing reaction which its flavors excite on the gustatory nerve, and the stimulating effect which it has upon the body.
— from All About Coffee by William H. (William Harrison) Ukers

And when, its force expended, The harmless storm was ended, And, as the sunrise splendid Came blushing o'er the sea; I thought, as day was breaking, My little girls were waking, And smiling, and making A prayer at home for me.
— from Notes on a Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo by William Makepeace Thackeray

And they do not understand why any woman is fool enough to have "a big family," as they call my four.
— from Paris Vistas by Helen Davenport Gibbons

They ran for their lives, and just succeeded in escaping when there was a terrific explosion, and the whole front behind those columns of the façade on the principal floor was blown, with its furniture, etc., out into Whitehall.
— from The Invasion of 1910, with a full account of the siege of London by William Le Queux

The church, which is fashioned externally of stone, has a brick interior.
— from Our Churches and Chapels: Their Parsons, Priests, & Congregations Being a Critical and Historical Account of Every Place of Worship in Preston by Atticus

Such was their relation, when it occurred to the poor drunken creature, (for no less was he a drunkard because his wines were imported from Europe at four dollars a bottle; and his Cogniac the best which could be obtained,) to revenge himself upon Allen by depriving him of Lucy.
— from Cora and The Doctor; or, Revelations of A Physician's Wife by Madeline Leslie

I’m hopin’ to get your court interpreter to translate ’em for me, and then I aim to rush ’em back over there before the coroner’s physician gets in, and put ’em back on that bed where I found ’em.”
— from Local Color by Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury) Cobb

The house did not even seem large, but it was, in fact, extremely spacious, as anyone could see who put foot into the hall, where two footmen lounged from morn till night.
— from Teresa of Watling Street: A Fantasia on Modern Themes by Arnold Bennett

Here the opera ends for us; but originally, after the catastrophe the persons of the play, all but the reprobate whom divine justice has visited, returned to the scene to hear a description of the awful happenings he had witnessed from the buffoon who had hidden under the table, to dispose their plans for the future (for Ottavio and Anna, marriage in a year; for Masetto and Zerlina, a wedding instanter; for Elvira, a nunnery), and platitudinously to moralize that, the perfidious wretch having been carried to the realm of Pluto and Proserpine, naught remained to do save to sing the old song, "Thus do the wicked find their end, dying as they had lived."
— from A Book of Operas: Their Histories, Their Plots, and Their Music by Henry Edward Krehbiel

"Sire—" "If Louise gets nervous and frightened, reassure her as much as you can; tell her that the king's affection is an impenetrable shield over her; if, which I suspect is the case, she already knows everything, or if she has already been herself subjected to an attack of some kind or other from any quarter, tell her, be sure to tell her, Saint-Aignan," added the king, trembling with passion, "tell her, I say, that this time, instead of defending her, I will avenge her, and that too so terribly that no one will in future even dare to raise his eyes toward her."
— from The Vicomte de Bragelonne Or Ten Years Later being the completion of "The Three Musketeers" And "Twenty Years After" by Alexandre Dumas