Literary notes about Profess (AI summary)
In literature, "profess" functions as a multifaceted term used to denote the act of openly declaring one’s beliefs, affiliations, or attributes, with nuances ranging from sincere affirmation to ironic distancing. Writers employ it to illustrate characters affirming their identity or expertise, as seen in declarations of personal creed or skill ([1], [2]), while others use it to critique superficial or disingenuous claims ([3], [4], [5]). The term often emphasizes the tension between inner conviction and its external expression—whether in sermons of moral purpose ([6], [7]) or in disputes over authenticity ([8], [9])—thereby enriching character discourse and thematic complexity throughout literary works ([10], [11]).
- Whether dost thou profess thyself-a knave or a fool?
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - "See here, my lady," he said, displaying it, and addressing me, "I profess, among other things less useful, the art of dentistry.
— from Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu - Herein I do not profess myself a Stoic, to hold grief no evil, but opinion, and a thing indifferent.
— from Bacon's Essays, and Wisdom of the Ancients by Francis Bacon - But now doth your emasculated ogling profess to be “contemplation!”
— from Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche - But are you so insensible as you profess yourself?
— from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - Many writers lay very great stress upon some definite moral purpose, at which they profess to aim their works.
— from The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne - This is foundation for the supposed appearances of spectres, or gigantic and terrible forms which so many people profess to have seen.
— from Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau - V. assert; make an assertion &c n.; have one's say; say, affirm, predicate, declare, state; protest, profess.
— from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget - But the principles which men profess, on any controverted subject, are usually a very incomplete exponent of the opinions they really hold.
— from Considerations on Representative Government by John Stuart Mill - And who profess Him, Saying: I believe in Him!
— from Faust [part 1]. Translated Into English in the Original Metres by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - Can Christianity be merely a modern form of Paganism when such noble souls as these profess it?"
— from Some Jewish Witnesses For Christ by Aaron Bernstein
