Literary notes about Sedentary (AI summary)
In literature, the term "sedentary" frequently carries layers of meaning beyond mere physical inactivity. It can depict a lifestyle marked by routine and inactivity, as when a character’s reluctance to engage in equestrian exercise or other vigorous pursuits is lamented ([1], [2]), while at the same time, the word may be used neutrally or even appreciatively in descriptions of scholarly or indoor occupations ([3], [4]). Authors also employ it to critique modernity and its health or moral detriments, suggesting that leading a life of quiet inactivity can be both physically and spiritually harmful ([5], [6], [7]). In broader sociological or historical contexts, "sedentary" extends to portray the fixed, sometimes limiting, nature of human existence in settled communities ([8], [9]), illustrating how the word serves as a versatile tool for exploring the complexities of human behavior and societal progress.
- Nevertheless, he disliked such a sedentary occupation, and being fond of [Pg 286] equestrian exercise, enlisted in the dragoons.
— from Twenty Years' Recollections of an Irish Police Magistrate by Frank Thorpe Porter - You see, my Victor, this sedentary, solitary life is killing me.
— from Juliette Drouet's Love-Letters to Victor Hugo by Juliette Drouet and Louis Guimbaud - This state of things seemed easy to account for in a scholar and a man of sedentary habits.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - The expression sounded wonderfully odd, with its suggestion of sedentary desk-life.
— from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad - Much sitting is to be avoided and a sedentary mode of life is to be discouraged.
— from A System of Practical Medicine. By American Authors. Vol. 2 General Diseases (Continued) and Diseases of the Digestive System - A sedentary life is the real sin against the Holy Spirit.
— from The Twilight of the Idols; or, How to Philosophize with the Hammer. The Antichrist by Nietzsche - After Nietzsche read this he wrote: "Sedentary application is the very sin against the Holy Ghost.
— from Egoists, A Book of Supermen Stendhal, Baudelaire, Flaubert, Anatole France, Huysmans, Barrès, Nietzsche, Blake, Ibsen, Stirner, and Ernest Hello by James Huneker - Every advance in civilization multiplies and tightens the bonds uniting him with his soil, makes him a sedentary instead of a migratory being.
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. Burgess and Robert Ezra Park - The contrast of this type, whose energy has carried it all over Europe, with the persistently sedentary Alpine race is very marked.
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. Burgess and Robert Ezra Park
