Sublime
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Meanwhile, however, the Count’s infatuation was no laughing matter, and I expressed my sincerest conviction when I said, after a pause, that I should recommend him to see either a priest or a physician. He burst into uproarious laughter. ‘A priest! What should I do with a priest, or he with me? I never loved them, and I feel less like beginning
... See moreSusie Boyt • The Turn of the Screw and Other Ghost Stories
Mostly he shouts, “Praise be!” while the back of his hand knocks you flat.
Barbara Kingsolver • The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel
He was no longer the man he had known, or rather thought himself.
George MacDonald • The Complete Fairy Tales
Death was the only absolute value in my world. Lose life and one would lose nothing again for ever. I envied those who could believe in a God and I distrusted them. I felt they were keeping their courage up with a fable of the changeless and the permanent. Death was far more certain than God, and with death there would be no longer the daily
... See moreGraham Greene • The Quiet American
He and his six brothers, he says, fled to Uganda when the Muslims killed his parents in the war. They lived by hunting in the bush. Now all his brothers are famous. So he says. Why not believe him, until it becomes important?
Ted Simon • Jupiter's Travels
'why, I think he's the wictim o' connubiality, as Blue Beard's domestic chaplain said, vith a tear of pity, ven he buried him.'
CHARLES DICKENS • THE PICKWICK PAPERS (illustrated, complete, and unabridged)

"Having gained this interview, I purposed to seek some retreat in the wilderness, inaccessible to your inquiry and to the malice of my foe, where I might henceforth employ myself in composing a faithful narrative of my actions. I designed it as my vindication from the aspersions that had rested on my character, and as a lesson to mankind on the
... See moreCharles Brockden Brown • Wieland: or, the Transformation, an American Tale
All the tales of American Indian fighter heroics (whether your hero is Crazy Horse or Davy Crockett) turn to ashes in the mouths of the tellers when facts are considered. The New World was conquered by coughs, sneezes, and craps in the woods.