Literary notes about acknowledge (AI summary)
The word "acknowledge" in literature is employed with remarkable versatility, often serving as a tool to signal recognition, admission, or receipt across a range of contexts. It can express a reluctant acceptance of a profound truth or personal shortcoming, as characters admit realities they hardly dare confront [1] or confess their own failings [2]. At times, it functions in formal correspondence, marking the receipt or validation of communication [3], while in philosophical discourse it becomes a means to affirm the existence of universal or metaphysical principles [4, 5]. In narrative and historical works, its use may underscore both personal surrender to overwhelming forces and a deliberate, even defiant, recognition of authority or circumstance [6, 7, 8].
- 'It is true,' said I; 'yet no one dare acknowledge it.'
— from The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius - I meant no more than to put the matter in its true light before you; though I acknowledge I did it selfishly enough, for I am disappointed.'
— from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens - MY DEAR SIR: It is with the deepest regret I acknowledge receipt of your communication of the 18th inst.
— from Memoirs of General William T. Sherman — Complete by William T. Sherman - Thus we are obliged to acknowledge the existence of a chain of causes, in which, however, absolute totality cannot be found.
— from The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant - Wherefore, lest we fall into an infinite regression, we must acknowledge the supreme God to be full of supreme and perfect good.
— from The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius - You alone I acknowledge as my conqueror and my sovereign."
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - To answer you would be to acknowledge you as my judges, and I only acknowledge you as my executioners.”
— from Twenty years after by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - “You fear to acknowledge that your correspondent has deceived you?
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet
