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Literary notes about Cautelous (AI summary)

The word "cautelous" is used across various literary works to evoke a blend of watchfulness, prudence, and even a measure of artful cunning. Often, it functions as a caution against rash or deceptive actions, urging characters to rely on circumspection in their dealings, whether in the realm of personal behavior or in strategic maneuvers. For instance, one author advises against the admission of false suppositions, emphasizing the need for meticulous inference-making [1], while another uses the term to characterize an individual whose very nature is imbued with a shrewd, if not subtly deceitful, quality [2]. In theological or moral contexts, it also warns of the dangers inherent in a relaxed vigilance, suggesting that divine servants should approach their duties with scrupulous care [3]. In this way, "cautelous" emerges as a richly layered term, embodying both prudence and an alert mistrust of that which might lead to harm.
  1. Be cautelous of admitting false suppositions; or at least of admitting any inference that dependeth upon them.
    — from A Christian Directory, Part 3: Christian Ecclesiastics by Richard Baxter
  2. The heir-at-law to the estate, now that the Esquire's son was dead, watched her madness with a cautelous avaricious desire.
    — from The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous, Vol. 1 Who was a sailor, a soldier, a merchant, a spy, a slave among the moors... by George Augustus Sala
  3. Where God is very jealous, his servants should be very cautelous.
    — from The Simple Cobler of Aggawam in America by Nathaniel Ward

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