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Literary notes about SOUGHT (AI summary)

The term "sought" in literature often conveys a determined or even desperate pursuit, whether of an object, ideal, or person. It can denote both a tangible search for something concrete, as when a character seeks out a lost loved one or elusive prize ([1], [2]), and an abstract quest for truth, guidance, or inner fulfillment ([3], [4], [5]). Authors employ the word not only to indicate physical action—as in the careful pursuit of a target or enemy ([6], [7])—but also to evoke a deeper emotional or philosophical yearning, as when characters pursue elusive ideals like eternal youth, divine support, or destiny ([8], [9], [10]). The versatility of "sought" allows writers to infuse a scene with urgency, determination, or even melancholy, enhancing the narrative with layers of meaning drawn from the character’s inner life and broader cultural contexts ([11], [12]).
  1. I sought out Dejah Thoris in the throng of departing chariots.
    — from A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
  2. He was not deceived; it was she whom he sought.
    — from The three musketeers by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet
  3. But he was a man of such gravity that he despised glory, and sought only for truth.
    — from The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius
  4. I live not by my fault: I strove to have deserv’d the death I sought.
    — from The Aeneid by Virgil
  5. In the days of my trouble I sought God, with my hands lifted up to him in the night, and I was not deceived.
    — from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
  6. When he had reached the fence, still without finding those he sought, he stopped and looked about him.
    — from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy
  7. Rostóv reined in his horse, and his eyes sought his foe to see whom he had vanquished.
    — from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy
  8. But that gold watch he sought was the innermost life of the fish.
    — from Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville
  9. And [Pg 316] hence it is obvious that peace is the end sought for by war.
    — from The City of God, Volume II by Bishop of Hippo Saint Augustine
  10. Lastly, Calderon was so deeply impressed with this view of life that he sought to embody it in a kind of metaphysical drama— “Life a Dream.”
    — from The World as Will and Idea (Vol. 1 of 3) by Arthur Schopenhauer
  11. She sought further into things than other girls in her position ever did, and her mother groaned as she felt she could not aid in the search.
    — from The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
  12. Each man sought his neighbor’s eye, but found in it no ray of hope, no encouragement.
    — from The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain

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