Literary notes about Convince (AI summary)
In literature, the term "convince" is employed in diverse ways, often encapsulating both internal and external acts of persuasion. Authors use it to illustrate characters attempting to persuade another of ideas or truths—for instance, as a means to validate personal beliefs or to sway opinions in interpersonal exchanges ([1], [2], [3]). At times, it underscores the internal struggle of self-assurance or doubt, where characters endeavor to reassure themselves of their own convictions ([4], [5], [6]). Moreover, its usage extends into rhetorical discourse, as when speakers or narrators appeal to logic and authority to establish a point, whether by teaching or by rhetorical demonstration ([7], [8], [9]). This range of applications reflects the word’s adaptability to both the emotional and intellectual contexts of narrative discourse.
- " "And May adores you—and yet you couldn't convince her?
— from The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton - You can convince a man of anything, when you try.
— from The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner - And when he is come, he will convince the world of sin and of justice and of judgment.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - Would that I might convince myself of error in the present instance!"
— from Twice-told tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne - I knew they wouldn't kill me, but I couldn't convince my body of that.
— from Little Brother by Cory Doctorow - You could never keep it up, he said, unless you could manage to convince yourself that you were it.
— from The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan - Our captain said he required no hostages; he had merely to make use of his eyes to convince himself that all was perfectly safe.
— from The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2) by Bernal Díaz del Castillo - He cared little to convince any one of the correctness of his view, but as teacher he was bound to explain it, and as friend he found it convenient.
— from The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams - In speaking thus I have one fear; it is that I may convince the mind before God can win the heart.
— from The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer