Literary notes about Legitimate (AI summary)
The term “legitimate” in literature is versatile, signifying everything from moral duty and rightful claims to authentic lineage and proper practice. In philosophical and ethical treatises, it is used to denote conformity to natural or moral laws—for instance, as fulfilling one’s ethical responsibilities ([1]) or as serving as a foundation for correct scientific methods ([2]). The word also appears in contexts of governance and authority, where it underscores rightful power or succession as in discussions of kingship and heirs ([3], [4], [5]). In social and personal realms, “legitimate” further delineates accepted norms, whether in describing acceptable desires ([6]), legal marital relations ([7], [8]), or the accurate characterization of actions that are lawful or justified ([9], [10]). This multiplicity of uses illustrates how “legitimate” functions as a marker of authenticity and propriety across various literary genres and historical periods.
- If then we decline to make such sacrifices, we do wrong by failing to fulfil natural and legitimate expectations.
— from The Methods of Ethics by Henry Sidgwick - These can then be properly united in a legitimate manner.
— from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin - And this Sir H. Cholmly fears may be by divorcing the Queen and getting another, or declaring the Duke of Monmouth legitimate; which God forbid!
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys - The Directory congratulates him on these severe measures: "The laws of war and the safety of the army render them legitimate in such circumstances."
— from Napoleon's Letters to Josephine, 1796-1812 by Emperor of the French Napoleon I - The monarch of that country, Ariarathes, had a legitimate son Ariarathes.
— from Dio's Rome, Volume 1 by Cassius Dio Cocceianus - Well?” “Well, and the most legitimate desire—he wishes that your children should have a name.”
— from Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy - He had married, and was the father of several legitimate children.
— from Juliette Drouet's Love-Letters to Victor Hugo by Juliette Drouet and Louis Guimbaud - And therefore, under the civil law, he is legally married and his child is legitimate.
— from Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney - Intervention in the external relations of states is more legitimate, and perhaps more advantageous.
— from The Art of War by baron de Antoine Henri Jomini - And I grant that this is a legitimate interpretation, in respect of a part of the use of either term in ordinary discourse.
— from The Methods of Ethics by Henry Sidgwick
