The whinnying and clanging of Welch’s self-starter began behind them, growing fainter and fainter as they walked on until it was altogether overlaid by the other noises of the town and by their own voices.

    — Kingsley Amis, from Lucky Jim, How I Envy him (thank you, ex-blonde)

[And when the name of Eddie Rake was mentioned, he would smile and maybe laugh and tell a story of his own.] One with a happy ending.

    — John Grisham, from Bleachers (thank you, smile-and-breathe)

     He who, from zone to zone,
Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,
In the long way that I must tread alone,
       Will lead my steps aright.

    — William Cullen Bryant, from “To a Waterfowl” (thank you, meganthebookie)

And all men kill the thing they love,
By all let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!

    — Oscar Wilde, from ”The Ballad of Reading Gaol” (thank you, msgray)

After a moment of silence, she says, “Pax vobiscum!” (Peace be with you), as Maia’s song still lingers in the air.

    — Henrik Ibsen, from When We Dead Awaken (thank you, vulneratusanima)

He was bigger, stronger, faster, and wiser. If he was destined to oppose Tigerclaw, then so be it. Fireheart was ready for the challenge.

    — Erin Hunter, from Warriors: Into the Wild (thank you, storm08)