Oft seldan hw×r ×fter leodhyre lytle hwile bongar bugeth. It is very rare that, after the fall of a prince, the deadly spear rests for long.

-Anonymous
c.800  Beowulf, l.2029^31.

Suddenly, as rare things will, it vanished.

-Browning, Robert
  Men and Women,'One Word More. To E.B.B.', stanza 4.

Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should dwell.

-Doyle, SirArthur Conan
  The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,'The Copper Beeches'.

Nothing is thought rare Which is not new and follow'd, yet we know That what was worne some twenty yeare agoe, Comes into grace againe.

-Fo, Dario
c.1623  The Noble Gentleman, prologue.

O rare Ben Jonson.

-Jonson, Ben
  His epitaph in Westminster  Abbey. It is thought that the words were inscribed on his gravestone at the order of a certain Sir JohnYoung, possibly in error for 'OrareBen Jonson' ('Pray for Ben  Jonson').

And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever come perfect days.

-Lowell,James Russell
  'The Vision of Sir Launfal', prelude.

In this country it is rare for anyone, let alone a publisher, to take writers seriously.

-Powell, Anthony Dymoke
  In the DailyTelegraph, 8 Feb.