Literary notes about ASPIRE (AI summary)
The word "aspire" in literature envelops a spectrum of human longing and striving—from the creative urge to compose tales to the profound quest for moral and spiritual refinement. Some authors employ it to denote the desire for artistic or inventive achievement, as when one strives for the praise of invention and expressive composition [1, 2]. In other contexts, the term reflects an ambition for higher moral, intellectual, or social status, illustrating the tension between human limitations and lofty aspirations, as seen in discourses on power, virtue, and even national destiny [3, 4, 5]. Likewise, "aspire" is used to capture an inherent yearning for perfection, a striving that can be both constructive and cautionary, urging reflection on the reach and limits of human desire [6, 7, 8]. Thus, across diverse literary landscapes, “aspire” serves as a multifaceted emblem of the eternal human quest for growth, understanding, and transcendence.
- Some aspire to the praise of invention, and compose tales and fables.
— from All About Coffee by William H. Ukers - Rose, Daily Thy smile I aspire to.
— from Language of Flowers by Kate Greenaway - "For man prefers to aspire to nonentity than not to aspire at all."
— from Ecce Homo by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche - The same ambition which had prompted Tarquin, in other respects an excellent man, to aspire to the crown, followed him whilst on the throne.
— from The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Livy - The empire of Russia will aspire to conquer Europe, and will itself be conquered.
— from The Social Contract & Discourses by Jean-Jacques Rousseau - The simplest words,—we do not know what they mean except when we love and aspire.
— from Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson - Its errors are never considerable; nor would it err at all, did it not aspire to such an absolute perfection.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume - To desire is to obtain; to aspire is to, achieve.
— from As a man thinketh by James Allen
