Literary notes about Circuitous (AI summary)
The word "circuitous" is frequently employed to evoke an image of a winding, indirect path—both in physical journeys and metaphorical reasoning. It describes terrains or routes that are not straightforward, as when historical narratives recount arduous military maneuvers or explorations, such as journeys through bogs or across treacherous landscapes [1, 2]. At the same time, it captures the idea of roundabout thought processes or methods, where logic or argumentation unfolds indirectly, reminiscent of the meandering progression of a physical route [3, 4]. Whether used to detail the painstaking ascent of a mountain [5] or to illustrate the indirect approach in social or strategic contexts [6, 7], "circuitous" enriches the narrative by underscoring the complexity and deliberation inherent in the journey or argument being pursued.
- Cortes, on account of the bogs which our horse could not pass, was obliged to take a circuitous route.
— from The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2) by Bernal Díaz del Castillo - The Persians also were treacherous guides, and conducted the ambassadors along circuitous and difficult ways.”
— from The Geography of Strabo, Volume 3 (of 3) by Strabo - But this is a circuitous argument to warrant a conclusion to which in matter of fact I adhere so relentlessly.
— from An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent by John Henry Newman - As a rule, however, it is only apparent—a circuitous path to the preservation of one's own feelings of vitality and worth.
— from The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book III and IV by Nietzsche - The descent from the mountain is much shorter than the circuitous ascent.
— from The Historians' History of the World in Twenty-Five Volumes, Volume 03 Greece to the Peloponnesian War - He wishes to spare the young those circuitous paths, on which he himself had lost his way.
— from Biographia Literaria by Samuel Taylor Coleridge - “Do you know why he followed you?” began Gringoire again, seeking to return to his question by a circuitous route.
— from Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo
