Literary notes about Simple (AI summary)
Across literary works, "simple" takes on many shades of meaning, serving both as a descriptor of uncomplicated form and as a marker of inherent honesty. It can denote a quality of purity or unadorned beauty, as when a character is portrayed as having a "simple and a beautiful nature" ([1]) or when truth is seen as detached from artifice ([2]). At times, it appears in technical or procedural contexts—for instance, referring to a "simple operation" ([3]) or a "simple appeal" ([4])—while also being employed to describe physical or metaphorical forms, such as the "simple body" ([5]) or a narrative style that is straightforward and unembellished ([6]). In these varied applications, the word underscores the literary celebration of clarity, naturalness, and directness.
- "He has a simple and a beautiful nature.
— from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - There is nothing which all mankind venerate and admire so much as simple truth, exempt from artifice, duplicity, and design.
— from Pushing to the Front by Orison Swett Marden - They can be removed by a simple operation.
— from The New Gresham Encyclopedia. A to Amide by Various - Now, gentlemen, if the prisoner had pleaded guilty my friend would have had to rely on a simple appeal to his lordship.
— from Justice by John Galsworthy - A simple body; at least one that is supposed to be so, as it has never been decomposed.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - The prose Anderson employs in telling these stories may seem at first glance to be simple: short sentences, a sparse vocabulary, uncomplicated syntax.
— from Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life by Sherwood Anderson
