Literary notes about Compromise (AI summary)
In literature, "compromise" is a multifaceted term that often underscores the tension between principle and practicality. It appears in narratives as both a necessary, strategic concession—such as when military decisions hinge on inevitable trade-offs ([1]) or political processes depend on balancing conflicting interests ([2], [3])—and as a marker of personal or moral sacrifice, as when a character takes drastic measures to avoid endangering another's reputation ([4]) or to maintain dignity ([5]). Moreover, literary voices critique the very notion of self-denial, suggesting that the refusal to compromise may be emblematic of rigid idealism ([6]), while in other contexts, compromise is portrayed as the unavoidable mechanism through which human interaction and governance are achieved.
- The result was a compromise which was inevitable: a small detachment was sent to Formínsk to attack Broussier.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - The keystone to the arch of this grand union of the slavery party of the United States, is the compromise of 1850.
— from My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass - We may well suppose that neither side would entirely yield to the other, and consequently that the struggle could be terminated only by compromise.
— from The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton and John Jay and James Madison - In order not to compromise him, I burnt this paper with many others on the Saturday morning, when I was on the point of being arrested.
— from The History of a Crime by Victor Hugo - It is certainly best not to compromise oneself by any concealment."
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - He cannot compromise, or understand middle actions.
— from The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 2 by Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb
