Literary notes about ACTIVE (AI summary)
The term "active" functions as a versatile descriptor in literature, often conveying vigorous engagement, dynamic energy, or an initiative that calls things into being. Authors use it to characterize both tangible actions and mental or emotional states—ranging from physical labor and military service [1, 2] to the lively exchange of ideas and intellectual stimulation [3, 4]. It also appears in grammatical discussions, differentiating between forms that denote initiatory force versus those that imply passivity [5, 6], and serves as a marker of personal initiative in social, political, or religious contexts [7, 8, 9]. This multifaceted usage illustrates how "active" encapsulates the essence of assertive presence and involvement across diverse literary fields [10, 11].
- In that vain contest I have exhausted the warmth of soul and firmness of will indispensable to an active life.
— from A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Iurevich Lermontov - This active old servant was unpacking the traveler’s canteen and preparing tea.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - These, like all his faculties, were active, eager for nutriment, and alive to gratification when it came.
— from Villette by Charlotte Brontë - On the contrary, the brain is especially active, and works incessantly—probably hard, hard, hard—like an engine at full pressure.
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The present active participle is formed by adding -ns to the present stem.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - Some verbs have both active and deponent inflections: as, adsentiō , agree , more commonly adsentior .
— from A Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges by George Martin Lane - He wanted some one young, active, and glad to work actively for a moderate sum.
— from Sister Carrie: A Novel by Theodore Dreiser - Then he drifted to LeRoy, in Genesee County, becoming an active Free Mason.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - He took an active and eager part in the work of the "German Self-Education Society" created by the students of his school.
— from The Jewish State by Theodor Herzl - And, lastly, in regard to the three modes of life, the contemplative, the active, and the composite, they declare in favour of the third.
— from The City of God, Volume II by Bishop of Hippo Saint Augustine - moneō monēre monuī monitus ACTIVE VOICE.
— from A Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges by George Martin Lane
