But it is just in that cold, abominable half despair, half belief, in that conscious burying oneself alive for grief in the underworld for forty years, in that acutely recognised and yet partly doubtful hopelessness of one's position, in that hell of unsatisfied desires turned inward, in that fever of oscillations, of resolutions determined for ever and repented of again a minute later--that the savour of that strange enjoyment of which I have spoken lies.
— from Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

But it is just in that cold, abominable half despair, half belief, in that conscious burying oneself alive for grief in the underworld for forty years, in that acutely recognized and yet partly doubtful hopelessness of one's position, in that hell of unsatisfied desires turned inward, in that fever of oscillations, of resolutions determined for ever and repented of again a minute later—that the savour of that strange enjoyment of which I have spoken lies.
— from White Nights and Other Stories The Novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Volume X by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

This for the most part is the humour of us all, to be discontent, miserable, and most unhappy, as we think at least; and show me him that is not so, or that ever was otherwise.
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

It was not indeed until she had ridden for some distance with one of her captors on either side that she realized that she and her maid were prisoners in the hands of unknown men, who seemed, from the purposeful way in which they rode, to have a definite and well-planned object in view.
— from Edgar the Ready: A Tale of the Third Edward's Reign by W. P. Shervill

His allowance enabled him to play his part in the hospitalities of University life with credit, and he showed no disposition to exceed it.
— from Peter Binney: A Novel by Archibald Marshall

These domains, it was also evident, had passed into the hands of upstart speculators, strangers to the people, and indifferent to their welfare, who did not even know how to make their wealth productive to themselves.—
— from The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 14, No. 384, August 8, 1829 by Various

Dr. E. B. Tylor, whose information on all such matters is only equalled by his philosophical insight, says of ordeals: "As is well known, they have always been engines of political power in the hands of unscrupulous priests and chiefs.
— from Bible Studies: Essays on Phallic Worship and Other Curious Rites and Customs by J. M. (Joseph Mazzini) Wheeler

There is a wilful stupidity, a studied misconstruction of God’s will, which has played a large part in the history of unbelief.
— from The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Ephesians by George G. (George Gillanders) Findlay

From the Picture in the Hall of University College, Oxford.
— from The Gallery of Portraits: with Memoirs. Volume 5 (of 7) by Arthur Thomas Malkin

To antiquaries the services of photography have a unique value, for, by perpetuating in the form of negatives those monuments of nature and art which, though exempt from common accident, are still subject to gradual decay from time, it places in the hands of us all microscopically exact antitypes of objects which, from change or distance, are otherwise inaccessible.
— from Notes and Queries, Number 210, November 5, 1853 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Various

Hitherto we have seen two readily distinguishable periods in the history of Japan, the period during which the mikados were the actual as well as the nominal rulers of the empire; and the period during which the imperial power more and more passed into the hands of usurping mayors of the palace, and the country was kept in an almost constant ferment with the feuds of rival noble families which coveted this honor.
— from The War in the East: Japan, China, and Corea by Trumbull White

Upon the borders of the velvet lawn, bathed in the dews of night, I beheld the gentle lady of the place; she was alone, and walking pensively—now stooping, not to pluck, but to admire, and then to leave amongst its mates, some crimson beauty of the earth—now looking to the mountains of rich gold piled in the heavens, one upon another, changing in form and colour, blending and separating, as is their wondrous power and custom, filling the maiden's soul with joy.
— from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 53, No. 331, May, 1843 by Various

The document, enveloped and sealed down, was put into the hands of Umm ed-Dahak.
— from Veiled Women by Marmaduke William Pickthall