Literary notes about Precarious (AI summary)
The term "precarious" is widely employed in literature to convey instability or uncertainty in various contexts, from personal circumstances and physical conditions to political and social arrangements. Its usage can illustrate the fragile state of an endeavor or existence, as when a character's enterprise is described as increasingly unstable ([1], [2]). It also appears in discussions of political power and authority, where even the mightiest figures or governments are portrayed as holding their positions only tenuously ([3], [4], [5]). In some narratives, the word highlights the transitory or conditional nature of personal security or livelihood, emphasizing how easily fortunes can change ([6], [7], [8]). This rich application in literature allows authors to underscore themes of uncertainty and the ever-changing nature of life.
- As the time so passed, this slinking business became a more and more precarious one.
— from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens - What had he done to distinguish him from thousands of other struggling men earning a precarious livelihood?
— from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra - 96 Yet the authority of Constantine was less precarious, and his government was more successful, than the transient reigns of Marcus and of Gratian.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - In rank and authority these officers seemed not inferior to the ancient proconsuls; but their station was dependent and precarious.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - In his flight he bestowed the precarious title of Cæsar on Valens, his general of the Illyrian frontier.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - I should have required no more, and cheerfully lived up to my income; but my precarious situation has constantly and necessarily kept me in fear.
— from The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Complete by Jean-Jacques Rousseau - But he could not possibly hunt up such a respectable man just yet; so raw and unpolished was his condition, so precarious were his fortunes.
— from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy - The three dollars he received for the triolets he used to eke out a precarious existence against the arrival of the White Mouse check.
— from Martin Eden by Jack London
