Though not above the middle height Marian gave people the impression of being much taller than she really was, her figure, although thin and slight, being well-poised and not without a certain sturdiness of make.
"George Eliot"
Mathilde Blind
It comes partly by race heredity from the sturdiness of the Saxon and Norman founders of the race, partly from the general practice of working hard from youth up, and largely from the fact that the English playgrounds are so universally used, and are the scenes of the severest struggles for supremacy in skill and power that are witnessed in any part of the world.
"Dickens As an Educator"
James L. (James Laughlin) Hughes
Susan Fleet was one of those capable and intelligent women who are apt to develop sturdiness if they do not marry and have children.
"The Way of Ambition"
Robert Hichens