Literary notes about Subtlety (AI summary)
The term "subtlety" in literature frequently encompasses a range of meanings—from a nuanced, nearly imperceptible quality to a cunning method of influencing others. Writers employ it to capture delicate emotional cues or refined techniques in character interaction, as when a tender touch or a carefully modulated gesture conveys unspoken sentiments [1][2]. In other contexts, it denotes a shrewd and artful approach to moral reasoning or argumentation, where intelligence and craftiness merge to produce effects that are both effective and elusive [3][4][5]. Additionally, subtlety may indicate the understated yet complex structure of prose or the intricate logic underlying philosophical discourse, illustrating its versatility in evoking both charm and cunning in human endeavors [6][7].
- And the close-working, instinctive subtlety of his fingers upon her hand sent the young girl mad with voluptuous delight.
— from The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence - There was a look of guile and subtlety in her face, a sound of it in her voice.
— from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë - Let us be careful in dealing with those who attach great importance to being credited with moral tact and subtlety in moral discernment!
— from Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche - He represents with candor, and confutes with subtlety, the opinions of the philosophers.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - I am Ulysses son of Laertes, renowned among mankind for all manner of subtlety, so that my fame ascends to heaven.
— from The Odyssey by Homer - The chromatic, with its delicate subtlety and with the "crowding" of its notes, gives a sweeter kind of pleasure.
— from The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio - Subtlety of speech I learnt from my teachers.
— from A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems
