In like manner there is reason to hope that the machines will use us kindly, for their existence will be in a great measure dependent upon ours; they will rule us with a rod of iron, but they will not eat us; they will not only require our services in the reproduction and education of their young, but also in waiting upon them as servants; in gathering food for them, and feeding them; in restoring them to health when they are sick; and in either burying their dead or working up their deceased members into new forms of mechanical existence.
— from Erewhon; Or, Over the Range by Samuel Butler

"It is no fault of mine if my husband's nephew goes mad, and chooses me for the victim of his monomania.
— from Lady Audley's Secret by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon

I well remember that suggestions arising from this ballad, led us into a train of thought wherein there became manifest an opinion of Usher’s which I mention not so much on account of its novelty, (for other men * have thought thus,) as on account of the pertinacity with which he maintained it.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition Table Of Contents And Index Of The Five Volumes by Edgar Allan Poe

I do not presume to think myself infallible; other men may have been able to make up their minds though the matter seems doubtful to myself; I am speaking for myself, not for them; I neither blame them nor follow in their steps; their judgment may be superior to mine, but it is no fault of mine that my judgment does not agree with it.
— from Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

If the result has been the opposite of what I intended, it is no fault of mine, but of those wicked beings that persecute me; but, for all that, I am willing to condemn myself in costs for this error of mine, though it did not proceed from malice; let Master Pedro see what he wants for the spoiled figures, for I agree to pay it at once in good and current money of Castile."
— from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

But both in great and ordinary Affairs, all Superiority, which is not founded on Merit and Virtue, is supported only by Artifice and Stratagem.
— from The Spectator, Volume 1 Eighteenth-Century Periodical Essays by Steele, Richard, Sir

The propagandist need only say what everyone knows: that this man is notoriously fond of money; that another one has been a poor sportsman; that a third has betrayed some [Pg 157] old friends; that a fourth has sought power in a selfish, vindictive way.
— from Psychological Warfare by Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger

“And yet to ruin any one,” cries the other, “you will allow, is the act of an enemy; and when by the same act you must knowingly and certainly bring ruin on yourself, is it not folly or madness, as well as guilt?
— from History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding

“You can count on me, if necessary, for one million dollars.
— from The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie

“Certainly, Mr. Spilett,” answered the sailor, “and there is no fear of my doing so again.
— from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne

He is not fond of me, but I love him because he has good taste enough to distinguish you.
— from Blue-Stocking Hall, (Vol. 3 of 3) by William Pitt Scargill

I would willingly have displayed here the proud axiom: 'Nemo laeditur nisi a se ipso', had I not feared to offend the immense number of persons who, whenever anything goes wrong with them, are wont to exclaim, "It is no fault of mine!"
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Volume 01: Childhood by Giacomo Casanova

If my wound is not fatal, old man, you must come to my house and take a bowl of soup with us.
— from The Galley Slave's Ring; or, The Family of Lebrenn A Tale of The French Revolution of 1848 by Eugène Sue

The individual whom he addressed as a captain was heard to laugh at the words of his superior officer, and he replied: "I am sure there is no fear of my trying to intrude myself in that direction, for I am opposed to the thing on principle."
— from The Wilderness Fugitives by Edward Sylvester Ellis

Another was that one might as well make up one's mind to attend to business during McAllister's glacial period, but that, when a more genial atmosphere pervaded the school, the farther one went in inventing new forms of mischief the more likely was one to become a hero.
— from The Silver Maple by Mary Esther Miller MacGregor

and for quarreling with your dinner?—I protest, my lord, you make one of us look like a child who flings away his bread and butter because it has not glass windows upon it— Not for one moment forbear, madam!— Pr'ythee, pr'ythee—[I profess I had like to have said honest friend]—No more of these airs; and, I tell you, I will forgive you.
— from The History of Sir Charles Grandison, Volume 4 (of 7) by Samuel Richardson

"… He was in no frame of mind to argue with; the conversation was distinctly unpleasant.
— from Project Gutenberg Complete Works of Winston Churchill by Winston Churchill

I don’t mention this in any low spirits and depression, but as the only available mode I can think of for tying up my hands,—for whatever is once devoted to any given object I’ll refrain from, and there is no fear of my incurring debt, though I freely confess I can spend my utmost farthing.”
— from Charles Lever, His Life in His Letters, Vol. I by Charles James Lever

"There is no fear of my losing my way; and, even if I did so, I could travel by the stars."
— from With Kitchener in the Soudan: A Story of Atbara and Omdurman by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

But while the latter is now only a fourth-rate commercial power, the former has sunk into obscurity, and is nearly forgotten of men.
— from Ocean Steam Navigation and the Ocean Post by Thomas Rainey