Literary notes about Majority (AI summary)
The term "majority" in literature is employed in a variety of ways, sometimes serving as a concrete numerical reference and at other times evoking more abstract qualities of common opinion or typical grouping. In political and legislative contexts, it often denotes a decisive or governing portion—as seen when Keynes notes that special exceptions may be permitted by a majority vote of Union countries [1], or when votes are described as being carried by a calculated majority in legislative bodies [2], [3]. In narratives, however, "majority" can carry a more descriptive or even metaphorical weight. For instance, Hardy paints a picture of the majority as “fine old crusted characters” with a distinct way of life [4], while authors like Orison Swett Marden use it to comment on human perceptions and limitations in a broader cultural context [5], [6]. The term also appears in scientific, historical, and social discussions, whether discussing the majority of invertebrates with specific physiological traits [7] or the prevailing attitudes of people in societal debates [8]. Overall, "majority" functions as a versatile concept that authors manipulate to ground their arguments in quantified reality or to evoke the prevailing spirit of an age.
- Further, special exceptions might be permitted by a majority vote of the countries entering the Union.
— from The Economic Consequences of the Peace by John Maynard Keynes - When the polls closed the Republicans had carried the Legislature by twenty-two majority on joint ballot.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - "The first time was on the night of the snatch division on the Tenants' Redemption Bill, on which the Government was saved by a majority of three.
— from The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H. G. Wells - To this they quite readily agreed, the majority being fine old crusted characters who had a decided taste for living without worry.
— from The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy - The majority of people do not see things; they just look at them.
— from Pushing to the Front by Orison Swett Marden - The great majority of us are still living in the basement of our beings.
— from Pushing to the Front by Orison Swett Marden - The great majority of the Invertebrates that have acquired an independent vascular system have only colourless lymph-cells in the circulating fluid.
— from The Fables of Aesop by Aesop - Or let the majority be English, the minority Irish, or the contrary: is there not a great probability of similar evil?
— from Considerations on Representative Government by John Stuart Mill
