Literary notes about Detract (AI summary)
In literature, "detract" is frequently employed to indicate the act of subtracting from or diminishing the value, quality, or reputation of something. For instance, Kate Chopin’s description of a woman’s graceful bearing amid physical change emphasizes that no amount of perceived imperfection will detract in the slightest from her elegance [1]. Similarly, Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein use the term to argue that certain errors or misquotations do not lessen the overall impact or humor of a narrative [2, 3]. In more abstract or philosophical contexts, writers such as Henry Sidgwick and Plutarch assert that acknowledging imperfections does not detract from an entity’s inherent perfection or excellence [4, 5]. Even in historical and rhetorical treatments, like those by Livy and Cicero, "detract" functions to discuss how reputation or credit might be lessened, whether justifiably or not [6, 7]. Overall, the word serves as a versatile tool in literature, applied both in literal descriptions of diminution and in metaphorical reflections on value and merit [8, 9].
- She was growing a little stout, but it did not seem to detract an iota from the grace of every step, pose, gesture.
— from The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin - The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our power to add or to detract.
— from The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein - The fact that the speaker misquoted the words of Genesis in which the Ark is described did not seem to detract from the burlesque humor of the story.
— from The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein - The inapplicability of the notion of ‘merit’ to Divine action has never been felt to detract from the Perfection of the Divine Nature.
— from The Methods of Ethics by Henry Sidgwick - And it is absurd to detract from woman's various excellence.
— from Plutarch's Morals by Plutarch - But to detract from another’s reputation, or to rival him with that vicious emulation which resembles an enmity, of what use can that conduct be?
— from Cicero's Tusculan Disputations by Marcus Tullius Cicero - The circumstance however must be stated as it is handed down to us, that I may not detract from the credit of any writer.
— from The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Livy - DETRACT, draw back, refuse.
— from Every Man in His Humor by Ben Jonson - DETRACT, draw back, refuse.
— from The Alchemist by Ben Jonson
