Had Elfride, with any degree of coolness, asserted that she had done no harm, the poisonous breath of the dead Mrs. Jethway would have been inoperative.
It may unhesitatingly be affirmed that the only ignoble reason which might have dictated such a step was non-existent; that is to say, a serious decline in her affection.
And if Catherine had not most warmly asserted his innocence, it seemed likely that William would lose the favour of his master forever, if not his place, by her rapidity.
He could not affirm with confidence, even to himself, that his " largest synthesis" would certainly turn out to be chaos, since he would be equally obliged to deny the chaos.
I asserted, aloud and boldly, that I was a free man—a resident of Saratoga, where I had a wife and children, who were also free, and that my name was Northup.
That same evening, the gentleman in the white waistcoat most positively and decidedly affirmed, not only that Oliver would be hung, but that he would be drawn and quartered into the bargain.
Using similar logic, Parmenides argues that the One must be motionless: If it moved, then it would not exist where it was before, which involves illogically asserting that something is not.