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He wished to take a decision, but felt with dismay that in this

matter he lacked that strength of will which he had known in

himself and really possessed. Pierre was one of those who are

only strong when they feel themselves quite innocent, and since

that day when he was overpowered by a feeling of desire while

stooping over the snuffbox at Anna Pavlovna's, an unacknowledged

sense of the guilt of that desire paralyzed his will.