Definitions Related words Phrases Mentions Lyrics History Colors (New!)

Literary notes about Subconscious (AI summary)

The term "subconscious" has been used in literature to signify a hidden realm of mental activity—a repository of repressed memories and unseen impulses that influence conscious behavior. Writers like Chekhov evoke it as the well of secret impulses waiting to be unearthed ([1], [2]), while psychological and sociological texts describe it as the domain of suppressed memories and automatic responses, effectively rendering the individual into a machine of unseen reflexes ([3], [4]). In a more metaphysical vein, authors such as Paramahansa Yogananda extend the idea further to encompass various states of awareness, contrasting the submerged subconscious with higher centers of thought and experience ([5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12]). Meanwhile, works in criminal psychology and sociology employ the term to delineate a spectrum of phenomena—from covert perceptions that influence behavior to the intricate dance between rationalization and hidden sentiment ([13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24]). This multifaceted usage underscores the contested and evolving nature of the subconscious in literature, where it remains a bridge between the known and the enigmatic depths of the human mind ([25], [26], [27], [28], [29], [30], [31], [32]).
  1. Chekhov divines the most secret impulses of the soul, scents out what is buried in the subconscious, and brings it up to the surface.
    — from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
  2. Chekhov divines the most secret impulses of the soul, scents out what is buried in the subconscious, and brings it up to the surface.
    — from Best Russian Short Stories
  3. Freudism makes of the individual a machine, absolutely controlled by subconscious reflexes....
    — from Secret societies and subversive movements by Nesta Helen Webster
  4. The subconscious, in short, is the region of the suppressed memories.
    — from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. Burgess and Robert Ezra Park
  5. In contrast to the subconscious which represents the submerged currents of our nature, it reveals the heights to which our nature can reach.
    — from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
  6. He scientifically makes breath unnecessary, without producing the states of subconscious sleep or unconsciousness.
    — from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
  7. Man represents a triple, not a double, personality; our conscious and subconscious being is crowned by a superconsciousness.
    — from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
  8. My body was more rested in the complete calmness of the superconsciousness than it could be by the partial peace of the ordinary subconscious state.
    — from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
  9. Subconscious thoughts and feelings of my past incarnations shed their karmic taints, lustrously renewed by Sri Yukteswar's divine visit.
    — from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
  10. In time I demolished every wall of rationalization and subconscious reservation behind which the human personality generally shields itself.
    — from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
  11. "It is true that the subconscious reveals much of the mystery that can explain human actions, but not all of our actions.
    — from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
  12. "'The substance of a dream is held in materialization by the subconscious thought of the dreamer.
    — from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
  13. Subconscious, the, 245 .
    — from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross
  14. With the degree of intelligence rises the degree of effect of the “dark subconscious perceptions.”
    — from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross
  15. A subconscious something may also preserve experiences to which we do not openly attend.
    — from The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy by William James
  16. Only when the pressure on her brain was reduced did the idea that Guttenberger was the murderer pass from the subconscious to the conscious.
    — from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross
  17. “Subconscious perceptions,” somewhat altered, play another rôle, according to Exner, in so-called orientation.
    — from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross
  18. Attention, effect of, 40 ; and the subconscious, 248 .
    — from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross
  19. (c) The Subconscious.
    — from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross
  20. Jastrow, J. The Subconscious.
    — from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross
  21. A research into the subconscious nature of man and society.
    — from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. Burgess and Robert Ezra Park
  22. It may be the feeling that some physiological period has elapsed; but, whatever it is, it is subconscious.
    — from The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy by William James
  23. The Mechanism of Thinking 243 § 48 ( c ) The Subconscious 245 § 49 ( d ) Subjective Conditions {xix} 248 Topic 5.
    — from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross
  24. Symposium on the Subconscious.
    — from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross
  25. Thus not only his conscious deeds but his subconscious mental processes may pass under the control of another, or become entirely deranged.
    — from Secret societies and subversive movements by Nesta Helen Webster
  26. Helen in those days was over-interested in the subconscious self.
    — from Howards End by E. M. Forster
  27. The same subconscious something may recollect what we have forgotten.
    — from The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy by William James
  28. It was a subject intolerable to discuss, and every subconscious instinct plotted to defeat its further exploration.
    — from The Economic Consequences of the Peace by John Maynard Keynes
  29. The term subconscious, as it occurs in the literature of psychology, is a word of various meanings.
    — from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. Burgess and Robert Ezra Park
  30. Susan says it is all in the way I hold my mouth and father says my subconscious mind is desirous of learning now, and I dare say they're both right.
    — from Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. Montgomery
  31. Apparently some subconscious element was at work.
    — from The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance by H. G. Wells
  32. Its fanatical interest in "happiness" shows the pathological condition of the subconscious self: it was a vital interest.
    — from The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book I and II by Nietzsche

More usage examples

Also see: Google, News, Images, Wikipedia, Reddit, BlueSky


Home   Reverse Dictionary / Thesaurus   Datamuse   Word games   Spruce   Feedback   Dark mode   Random word   Help


Color thesaurus

Use OneLook to find colors for words and words for colors

See an example

Literary notes

Use OneLook to learn how words are used by great writers

See an example

Word games

Try our innovative vocabulary games

Play Now

Read the latest OneLook newsletter issue: Compound Your Joy