Literary notes about Contradiction (AI summary)
Literary works employ "contradiction" to evoke a range of tensions—from moral and social conflicts to intellectual and aesthetic dilemmas. In some texts, it highlights the clash between concepts or character traits, as in the portrayal of an unyielding disposition toward dissent or error [1, 2], while in others it becomes a tool for philosophical inquiry and logical debate [3, 4, 5]. Authors also invoke "contradiction" to underscore the inherent duality of human experience, where conflicting impulses or ideas reveal deeper truths [6, 7, 8]. Even in narratives and treatises that tackle abstract theoretical constructs, the term serves to illustrate that conflict, whether in the realm of belief or the fabric of society, is not merely erroneous but a vital part of understanding the complexity of reality [9, 10, 11].
- Colonel Lloyd could not brook any contradiction from a slave.
— from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass - The spirit of contradiction was strong in Mr. Grimwig's breast, at the moment; and it was rendered stronger by his friend's confident smile.
— from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens - What we believe, when we believe the law of contradiction, is not that the mind is so made that it must believe the law of contradiction.
— from The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell - b. The Common Principle of all Analytical Judgments is the Law of Contradiction.
— from Kant's Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics by Immanuel Kant - The principle of contradiction establishes merely the agreement of concepts, but does not itself produce concepts.
— from The World as Will and Idea (Vol. 1 of 3) by Arthur Schopenhauer - I said; how shall we find a gentle nature which has also a great spirit, for the one is the contradiction of the other? True.
— from The Republic by Plato - Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the want of contradiction a sign of truth.
— from Pascal's Pensées by Blaise Pascal - Contradiction has always been permitted, in order to blind the wicked; for all that offends truth or love is evil.
— from Pascal's Pensées by Blaise Pascal - All the facts are in flat contradiction to such conjectures.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - Thus we are led to infer that the contradiction is an appearance only, and witchery of the senses.
— from The Republic of Plato by Plato - Is the concept "grand style" in fact a contradiction of the soul of music,—of "the Woman" in our music? ...
— from The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book III and IV by Nietzsche
