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Literary notes about Assimilate (AI summary)

The term "assimilate" in literature carries a rich variety of meanings—from the absorption of cultural influences to the internalization of complex ideas. In some works, it describes the process by which societies or individuals incorporate external elements into their existing framework, as when religious or political forces integrate divergent traditions into a familiar whole ([1], [2]). In other writings, authors focus on the intellectual challenge of understanding and incorporating new knowledge or experiences, suggesting that ideas must be gradually absorbed—often one at a time—to be fully grasped ([3], [4], [5]). At times, the word is even employed metaphorically, likening the integration of concepts to the physiological process of digesting food, implying that assimilation is essential to personal growth and functionality ([6], [7], [8]).
  1. In our European countries Christianity has forced itself to absorb and assimilate them; it has given them a Christian colouring.
    — from The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life by Émile Durkheim
  2. Plans to Germanize meant plans to assimilate conquered territories politically, culturally, socially, and economically into the German Reich.
    — from Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression (Vol. I) by United States. Office of Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality
  3. By urging two, both are injured, as the average mind can grasp and assimilate but one idea at a time.
    — from The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2) by Ida Husted Harper
  4. She told herself that she had acquired knowledge more quickly than she had been able to assimilate it.
    — from Gray youth: The story of a very modern courtship and a very modern marriage by Oliver Onions
  5. How can I assimilate any higher teachings?
    — from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
  6. Often the amount of food the patient requires or can assimilate is exceedingly small .
    — from Papers on Health by John Kirk
  7. "In dyspepsia the patient suffered from inability to assimilate food.
    — from Equality by Edward Bellamy
  8. Man's function as a force of nature was to assimilate other forces as he assimilated food.
    — from The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams

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