Literary notes about Amendment (AI summary)
In literature, the word "amendment" is employed in a variety of nuanced ways. In devotional or moral writings it often signifies a transformative renewal of one’s character or life—a call for internal change and self-correction ([1], [2], [3]). Conversely, in political and legal narratives the term denotes a precise alteration of established laws and constitutional texts, pointing to formal adjustments in governance and public policy ([4], [5], [6]). It also appears in conversational or rhetorical contexts, where it functions as a means to modify or clarify an idea during discourse ([7], [8], [9]). Together, these uses illustrate how "amendment" serves as a powerful metaphor for both personal evolution and societal progress across diverse literary genres.
- Thou comest that thou mayest be sanctified by Me, and be united to Me; that thou mayest receive fresh grace, and be kindled anew to amendment of life.
— from The Imitation of Christ by à Kempis Thomas - But the surest sign that his confession had been good and that he had had sincere sorrow for his sin was, he knew, the amendment of his life.
— from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce - One thing there is which holdeth back many from progress and fervent amendment, even the dread of difficulty, or the labour of the conflict.
— from The Imitation of Christ by à Kempis Thomas - [ See the Amendment to the Federal Constitution; "Federalist," No. 32; Story, p. 711; Kent's "Commentaries," vol.
— from Democracy in America — Volume 1 by Alexis de Tocqueville - I was called to the ballot-box by the Fourteenth Amendment, not as a female but as a citizen.
— from The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2) by Ida Husted Harper - And consequently, whenever nine, or rather ten States, were united in the desire of a particular amendment, that amendment must infallibly take place.
— from The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton and John Jay and James Madison - “Does anyone second this amendment?” he said.
— from The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare by G. K. Chesterton - I have a substantive amendment to move to the resolution now proposed—(‘Go off, off!
— from Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie - “The amendment will, as usual, be put first,” said Mr. Buttons, the chairman, with mechanical rapidity.
— from The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare by G. K. Chesterton
