“He — for there could be no doubt of his sex, though the fashion of the time did something to disguise it — was in the act of slicing at the head of a Moor which swung from the rafters.”

The Emerald City of Oz (1910), Ch. 4 : How The Nome King Planned Revenge
Later Oz novels

Source: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

Source: Mathematical Thought from Ancient to Modern Times (1972), p. 580
Context: Fermat knew that under reflection light takes the path requiring least time and, convinced that nature does indeed act simply and economically, affirmed in letters of 1657 and 1662 his Principle of Least Time, which states that light always takes the path requiring least time. He had doubted the correctness of the law of refraction of light but when he found in 1661 that he could deduce it from his Principle, he not only resolved his doubts about the law but felt all the more certain that his Principle was correct.... Huygens, who had at first objected to Fermat's Principle, showed that it does hold for the propagation of light in media with variable indices of refraction. Even Newton's first law of motion, which states that the straight line or shortest distance is the natural motion of a body, showed nature's desire to economize. These examples suggested that there might be a more general principle. The search for such a principle was undertaken by Maupertuis.

Source: City of Heavenly Fire

Source: Wagers of Sin (1996), Chapter 21 (p. 428)

Source: Lisey's Story

Source: The Wind in the Willows (1908), Ch. 7

"The Hue and Cry"
The Writing on the Wall and Other Literary Essays (1970)

Source: Match Me If You Can