Literary notes about PLANS (AI summary)
In literature, the word “plans” serves as a versatile term that can represent personal ambitions, military strategies, architectural blueprints, and even philosophical musings about the unpredictability of human endeavors. Some authors use it to highlight individual hopes and future intentions, as with Meg’s tentative query about “plans” in [1] or the reflective consideration of future dwelling arrangements in [2]. In more strategic or military contexts, “plans” becomes a tool for describing maneuvers and plot twists—ranging from Sunzi’s advice to have “plans dark and impenetrable” in [3] and [4] to discussions of defensive or offensive strategies in [5] and [6]. Meanwhile, “plans” also underscores the fragility of human design when confronted by external factors, as seen when personal intentions crumble under suspicion in [7] or are disrupted by unforeseen circumstances in [8]. This multiplicity of meaning makes “plans” a rich and adaptable concept that writers use to mirror the complex interplay between human initiative and the unpredictable nature of life.
- "Mother, do you have 'plans,' as Mrs. Moffat said?" asked Meg bashfully.
— from Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Louisa May Alcott - We should have considered more carefully our future plans, and debated concerning the spot where we should in future dwell.
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - 19. Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.
— from The Art of War by active 6th century B.C. Sunzi - [Ch`en Hao says: "He plans no superfluous marches, he devises no futile attacks."
— from The Art of War by active 6th century B.C. Sunzi - Instead of my being on the defensive, I would be on the offensive; instead of guessing at what he means to do, he would have to guess at my plans.
— from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. Grant - " Our object then must be to thwart his plans in these three directions and thus render him helpless.
— from The Art of War by active 6th century B.C. Sunzi - Not a word to show your suspicions—not a word, or my plans crumble to the ground.”
— from The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle - It makes plans and Circumstance comes and upsets them—or enlarges them.
— from What Is Man? and Other Essays by Mark Twain
