Literary notes about Perceive (AI summary)
The word "perceive" in literature often serves as a bridge between outward observation and inward understanding. It frequently conveys not merely the act of seeing, as when a character notes a physical change or the presence of another [1][2], but also the process of intellectually or emotionally apprehending deeper truths—transforming sensory input into insight, much like when thought is internalized and reconstructed [3]. At times, its use subtly hints at sudden awareness or gradually unfolding comprehension, whether it marks a shift in political sentiment [4] or a personal epiphany that redefines one’s understanding of events [5][6].
- D’Artagnan, who never turned his head, did not perceive it.
— from Twenty years after by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - My gentle reader, I perceive How patiently you've waited,
— from Lyrical Ballads, With a Few Other Poems (1798) by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth - To perceive another's thought, we must construct his thought within ourselves;... this thought is our own and is strictly original with us.
— from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James - "I perceive that the votes are equally divided at present," said Mr. Bulstrode, in a clear biting voice.
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot - At first I was puzzled by all these strange fruits, and by the strange flowers I saw, but later I began to perceive their import.
— from The Time Machine by H. G. Wells - Mr. Darcy smiled; but Elizabeth thought she could perceive that he was rather offended, and therefore checked her laugh.
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
