Literary notes about Contingency (AI summary)
The term “contingency” has been employed in literature to capture the uncertainty and unpredictability inherent in various circumstances, whether in war, politics, personal fate, or everyday mishaps. In historical and political texts, for example, it denotes the unwieldy nature of events such as wars or strategic maneuvers—Thucydides uses it to question the wisdom behind actions taken in war [1], while Sherman discusses it as a factor in military planning [2, 3]. In the realm of philosophy and everyday life, writers like William James and Edith Wharton explore contingency as an unavoidable aspect of reality and human relations [4, 5]. Novelists across centuries, including Thomas Hardy, Dostoyevsky, and Kipling, have also utilized the term to suggest the possibility of unforeseen events that range from personal misfortune to dramatic twists of fate [6, 7, 8]. Furthermore, in legal or contractual contexts, as seen in the works of Jesse F. Bone and in formal documentation [9, 10], “contingency” underscores the need to plan for alternative outcomes. This versatility in usage highlights the word’s enduring power to evoke the fragile interplay between chance and intention.
- And let them not acknowledge the justice of what we say, but dispute its wisdom in the contingency of war.
— from The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides - It seemed as though no contingency was left unprovided for.
— from Memoirs of General William T. Sherman — Complete by William T. Sherman - This latter contingency is probably the only danger to the easy success of your expedition.
— from Memoirs of General William T. Sherman — Complete by William T. Sherman - In short, the notion that real contingency and ambiguity may be features of the real world is a perfectly unimpeachable hypothesis.
— from The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy by William James - The latter contingency seemed improbable, yet Lily was not without a sense of uneasiness.
— from The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton - For several years the stream had not spouted so far from the tower as it was doing on this night, and such a contingency had been over-looked.
— from Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy - I examined the hole, and I declare it actually looks as though it had been made with a pen-knife, a most improbable contingency.”
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - I do not suppose these two gentlemen will torture me, but I like to provide for possible contingency with European assistance in emergency.'
— from Kim by Rudyard Kipling - And attach two riders, a full P-P-yes, no exceptions—and a security-leak contingency, Form 287-C.
— from The Lani People by Jesse F. Bone - “I’ll sign a contingency rider,” Kennon said, “if you will specify precisely what security matters I am not to reveal.”
— from The Lani People by Jesse F. Bone
