Literary notes about Inflexible (AI summary)
Across literary works, "inflexible" is employed to evoke a sense of unyielding rigidity—whether in a person's character, physical objects, or abstract principles. In historical narratives and political discourse, it often denotes a steadfast, sometimes stubborn constancy, as seen with leaders or ideologies that resist change [1, 2, 3]. At times, this unchangeability is portrayed in admirable terms, exemplified by moral firmness or principled conviction [4, 5], while in other contexts, it underscores obstinacy and an inability to adapt or empathize [6, 7]. The term also crosses into the physical realm, describing objects with a hardness that metaphorically mirrors human resoluteness, such as the "inflexible rod" influencing cosmic order [8]. Overall, the varied applications—from characters in classic novels [9, 10] to metaphoric descriptions in philosophical musings [11]—demonstrate the rich nuance that the word "inflexible" brings to literary expression.
- They implored just to say a word; but no; the President was inflexible—no man should be heard.
— from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I - Heaven is as inflexible as man, and the signature of the contract is fixed for this evening at nine o’clock.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - The inflexible and the yielding methods are equally effective if applied with wisdom.
— from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda - He was, in a word, a man of the most inflexible firmness and stone-like coolness.
— from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass - Accordingly, the world is ruled for the best if this unity abiding in the Divine mind puts forth an inflexible order of causes.
— from The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius - She tried to reason with him, and finding him inflexible, learned to hate him.
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - He was vain of that inflexible squareness of intellect, which made him the disagreeable creature that he was.
— from Lady Audley's Secret by M. E. Braddon - It is no substance which must travel over the distance, it is rather an inflexible rod which swings the worlds round in their orbits.
— from Know the Truth: A Critique on the Hamiltonian Theory of Limitation by Jesse Henry Jones - For them duty has inflexible and mortally tedious rules.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant - “Oh! don't be so proud, Estella, and so inflexible.”
— from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - An obstinate, inflexible, unforgiving Temper is odious upon all Occasions; but here it is unnatural.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson
