Literary notes about Assistance (AI summary)
The term "assistance" is used in literature to denote a broad spectrum of help—ranging from personal, intimate aid to large-scale institutional support. At times, characters directly request the aid of trusted comrades or advisors, emphasizing the interpersonal bonds and reliance on one another for counsel and practical help [1, 2]. In other instances, "assistance" refers to tangible, often physical support—whether in moments of crisis when a call for help is made [3, 4] or when even a small act, such as tears of relief, serves to ease emotional turmoil [5]. The word is also employed in more formal or collective settings, where it can highlight the role of organized institutions or social structures in providing necessary backing during challenges [6, 7, 8]. This wide-ranging application underscores the term’s flexibility as a concept that not only bridges personal relationships but also connects individual experiences with broader societal dynamics.
- I want to ask you for your assistance and advice, and knowing your unfailing amiability I think I can count on both.
— from Uncle Vanya: Scenes from Country Life in Four Acts by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - "Pray don't suppose that I have any idea of suspecting you," I said, "or any other wish than to be of assistance to you, if I can.
— from The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - When Joe went home at five minutes before ten, he found her struck down on the floor, and promptly called in assistance.
— from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - He asked himself whether his three accomplices in flight had succeeded, if they had heard him, and if they would come to his assistance.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - I could not say one word; I felt choking; at last tears came to my assistance, and I gave way to a fit of crying which relieved me.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - To whose assistance when the Gauls came back from Campania, dreadful devastations were com
— from The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Livy - They might still be able to give the utmost assistance which banks and bankers can with propriety give to traders of every kind.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith - Now is there not here a third principle which is often found to come to the assistance of reason against desire, but never of desire against reason?
— from The Republic of Plato by Plato
