Literary notes about activity (AI summary)
The term "activity" in literature carries a richly nuanced meaning that spans both the tangible and the abstract. It is used to denote concrete actions—deeds, operations, and lively pursuits in political, military, or everyday contexts [1][2][3]—while also capturing the subtler dimensions of inner life, where mental and emotional processes are animated and expressed [4][5]. Often, writers juxtapose the observable burst of external effort with the continuous, underlying drive that shapes thought and progress, suggesting that every specific act is linked to a broader, interconnected process [6][7]. This dual usage enlivens texts by reflecting on how energy, whether in public endeavors or personal quests, is the fundamental force behind change and meaning [8][9].
- FEAT, activity, operation; deed, action.
— from Every Man in His Humor by Ben Jonson - “Am I to be captured?” he cried; “no, not if I can use more activity than my enemies.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - She was glad to find escape from them in practical activity.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - But I feel quite sure that these cephalic motions are the portions of my innermost activity of which I am most distinctly aware .
— from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James - Reason ceases to be a remote and ideal faculty, and signifies all the resources by which activity is made fruitful in meaning.
— from Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey - Successively, it requires that each act be balanced with those which precede and come after, so that order of activity is achieved.
— from Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey - Every activity, however specific, is, of course, general in its ramified connections, for it leads out indefinitely into other things.
— from Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey - They are inevitable as the spirit and quality of an activity having specific consequences, not as forming an isolated realm of inner consciousness.
— from Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey - Therefore it is only in the soil of incessant activity and exertion that the germ will thrive, but also only in the sunshine of victory.
— from On War by Carl von Clausewitz
