And that it was almost impossible that he, who had delivered his father from so many treacherous contrivances laid against him, should be himself in a plot against him, and so lose all the reputation he had gained for his virtue, by his wickedness which succeeded it; and this while he had nothing to prohibit him, who was already appointed his successor, to enjoy the royal honor with his father also at present; and that there was no likelihood that a person who had the one half of that authority without any danger, and with a good character, should hunt after the whole with infamy and danger, and this when it was doubtful whether he could obtain it or not; and when he saw the sad example of his brethren before him, and was both the informer and the accuser against them, at a time when they might not otherwise have been discovered; nay, was the author of the punishment inflicted upon them, when it appeared evidently that they were guilty of a wicked attempt against their father; and that even the contentions there were in the king's family were indications that he had ever managed affairs out of the sincerest affection to his father.
— from Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus

It is necessary to ask, however, roughly, what abstract and ideal shape in state or family would fulfil the human hunger; and this apart from whether we can completely obtain it or not.
— from What's Wrong with the World by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton

However, since his wife Had ne'er caress'd him in her life, He made complaint of it one night.
— from Fables of La Fontaine — a New Edition, with Notes by Jean de La Fontaine

But if she was to be the practical woman she had intended to show herself, business must be carried on, introductions or none, and she ultimately acquired confidence enough to speak and reply boldly to men merely known to her by hearsay.
— from Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Inclusive of all, the unity of the world demands that colour be kept in it, whether I have cognizance of it or not.
— from The World I Live In by Helen Keller

Of the peculiar character of things as natural purposes In order to see that a thing is only possible as a purpose, that is, to be forced to seek the causality of its origin not in the mechanism of nature but in a cause whose faculty of action is determined through concepts, it is requisite that its form be not possible according to mere natural laws, i.e. laws which can be cognised by us through the Understanding alone when applied to objects of Sense; but that even the empirical knowledge of it as regards its cause and effect presupposes concepts of Reason.
— from Kant's Critique of Judgement by Immanuel Kant

For, as we said just now, that which hath no true comeliness of its own now receives, now loses, lustre at the caprice of those who have to do with it.
— from The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius

This I shall fully examine hereafter; but at present we may conclude that whatever may cease to be cannot of its own nature be eternal; that if fire wants sustenance, it will cease to be, and that, therefore, fire is not of its own nature eternal.
— from Cicero's Tusculan Disputations Also, Treatises On The Nature Of The Gods, And On The Commonwealth by Marcus Tullius Cicero

The truth is, that living or dead, if but decently treated, whales as a species are by no means creatures of ill odor; nor can whalemen be recognised, as the people of the middle ages affected to detect a Jew in the company, by the nose.
— from Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville

in pulling up my breeches yesterday over eagerly, but I will lay nothing to it till I see whether it will cease of itself or no.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

It has a real, homely charm of its own, no doubt; and the rich verdure, and the thorough finish added by human, art, are perhaps as attractive to an American eye as any stronger feature could be.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 09, No. 51, January, 1862 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various

This very delicate and complicated organ is often neglected when skilled treatment is urgently needed, and it is often ignorantly and carelessly tampered with when it should be let alone.
— from A Practical Physiology: A Text-Book for Higher Schools by Albert F. (Albert Franklin) Blaisdell

A controversy as to the origin of the Afghans centres round the question as to whether they are the children of Israel or not; and there are two opposing camps, one regarding it as an accepted historical fact that they are descended from the lost ten tribes of Israel, and the other repudiating all Israelitish affinities except such as may have come to them through the Muhammadan religion.
— from Among the Wild Tribes of the Afghan Frontier A Record of Sixteen Years' Close Intercourse with the Natives of the Indian Marches by T. L. (Theodore Leighton) Pennell

Carolan fell asleep upon a faery rath, and it was the faeries who filled his ears with music, so that he was haunted by the tunes ever afterward; and perhaps all poets, whether they are conscious of it or not, fall asleep on faery raths before they write sweet songs.
— from Penelope's Irish Experiences by Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin

Independent and "fashionable" as many of these villagers were, they were ready enough to appeal to their former owners in case of illness or need; and they were always welcomed.
— from Russian Rambles by Isabel Florence Hapgood

The cognizance of impeachments of national officers was taken from their jurisdiction, and the principle was adopted which extended that jurisdiction to "all cases arising under the national laws, and to such other questions as may involve the national peace and harmony."
— from History of the Origin, Formation, and Adoption of the Constitution of the United States, Vol. 2 With Notices of Its Principle Framers by George Ticknor Curtis

He tells us, also, he was informed that several years before he came to Mogadore, nearly all the Locusts in the empire, which at that time were very numerous, and had laid waste the country, were carried off in one night, and drowned in the Atlantic Ocean: that their dead carcasses a few days afterward were driven by winds and currents on shore, all along the western coast, extending from near Cape Spartel to beyond Mogadore, forming in many places immense piles on the beach: that the stench arising from their remains was intolerable, and was supposed to have produced the plague which broke out about that time in various parts of the Moorish dominions.
— from Curious Facts in the History of Insects; Including Spiders and Scorpions. A Complete Collection of the Legends, Superstitions, Beliefs, and Ominous Signs Connected with Insects; Together with Their Uses in Medicine, Art, and as Food; and a Summary of Their Remarkable Injuries and Appearances. by Frank Cowan

Tell him, whether aught comes of it or not I thank him, and for all his kindness to me, as I do you and Aunt Janet."
— from Bonnie Prince Charlie : a Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

If we are really going to maintain that pleasure alone is good as an end, we must maintain that it is good, whether we are conscious of it or not.
— from Principia Ethica by G. E. (George Edward) Moore