In dealing with Nicodemus, a sincere and thoroughly decent but unspiritual man, our Lord had difficulty in lifting his thoughts off what was external and worldly and fixing them on what was inward and heavenly.
"The Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St. John, Vol. I"
Marcus Dods
Under the influence of the sun's heat, the external portions of a rock expand, and again contract when they cool at night.
"Geology"
James Geikie
Her union with Golaud is an external bond; but her soul knows nothing of things external, her soul is innocent of whatever her mouth may say to a man who is a stranger to her soul.
"Life and Writings of Maurice Maeterlinck"
Jethro Bithell