Literary notes about Quintessence (AI summary)
In literature, the term "quintessence" is often employed to denote the purest, most concentrated form of an idea, quality, or character. Writers use it to distill complex attributes into a single, defining essence—whether that be the ideal of politeness and elegance as in refined social conduct ([1], [2]), the concentrated spirit of a cultural or philosophical movement ([3], [4]), or even the distilled embodiment of nature's beauty and art ([5], [6]). It serves both as a tool for celebration and a method of critique, encapsulating everything from the sublime and idealized ([7], [8]) to the harsh and revealing ([9], [10]). This layered usage underscores the flexibility of the term in capturing the ultimate, unadulterated nature of its subject.
- The quintessence of politeness, I declare.
— from Olla Podrida by Frederick Marryat - She is the ideal, the very quintessence of woman.
— from Abbe Mouret's Transgression by Émile Zola - [131] Adapted from Werner Sombart, The Quintessence of Capitalism , pp. 292-307.
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. Burgess and Robert Ezra Park - Therefore, if possible, the quintessence only!
— from Essays of Schopenhauer by Arthur Schopenhauer - When the trees are in bloom, to stroll along the Walk is to feel the delicacy of nature, to behold the quintessence of her refinement.
— from West Point
An Intimate Picture of the National Military Academy and of the Life of the Cadet by Robert C. (Robert Charlwood) Richardson - His song is a loud, clear, cheerful strain, the very quintessence of gladness as it mingles with the roar of the cataracts.
— from Birds of the Rockies by Leander S. (Leander Sylvester) Keyser - She is the very quintessence of fashion, and I am one of the danglers whose own light is made brighter by the reflection of her rays.
— from The Rector of St. Mark's by Mary Jane Holmes - But isn’t it beautiful, all that out there—the real quintessence of life.”
— from Northern Lights by Gilbert Parker - What is that but the quintessence of bigotry and intolerance?
— from Ingersoll in Canada: A Reply to Wendling, Archbishop Lynch, Bystander; and Others by Allen Pringle - It's the quintessence of all that is wrong with the world;—squalid, shameless huckstering!"
— from The Wife of Sir Isaac Harman by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells