Literary notes about bear (AI summary)
The word “bear” traverses a rich spectrum of meanings in literature, oscillating between the literal act of carrying or supporting and the figurative sense of enduring hardship. In some passages it signifies the acceptance of financial or moral burdens—such as supporting expenses or shame ([1], [2])—while in others it embodies the physical act of carrying arms or responsibilities ([3], [4], [5]). It often connotes an emotional endurance as characters struggle to withstand sorrow or disappointment ([6], [7], [8]), yet it is equally employed to denote the natural heaviness of existence or the act of resisting weariness ([9], [10]). Additionally, “bear” appears as a noun, unmistakably portraying the animal itself with its wild, untamed connotations ([11], [12], [13]), and extending even to heraldic symbolism and proverbial wisdom ([14], [15]). In all these contexts, the multifaceted use of “bear” enriches narrative textures by emphasizing both physical heft and the weight of emotional and moral trials ([16], [17], [18]).
- Those who take the profits should also bear the expense.
— from Proverb Lore Many sayings, wise or otherwise, on many subjects, gleaned from many sources by F. Edward (Frederick Edward) Hulme - I must bear this mark of shame upon my forehead until the Judgment Day.”
— from Dracula by Bram Stoker - All whosoever had sufficient strength to bear arms, attended; the standards were quickly brought forth from the treasury and conveyed to the dictator.
— from The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Livy - Go ye forth, therefore, bear weapons and armour, as I will direct you.
— from The Story of Beowulf, Translated from Anglo-Saxon into Modern English Prose - My first question is, Why has the law ordained that you should have common meals, and practise gymnastics, and bear arms?
— from Laws by Plato - She was going away, to deny him, to leave an unendurable emptiness in him, a void that he could not bear.
— from The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence - He kept it, he always remembered it, but he could scarcely bear to see it.
— from The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence - But another disappointment, such as yesterday’s, was more than I could bear.
— from Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson - Man is overwhelmed by the feeling of happiness, he is not strong enough to bear it.
— from Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau - Forgive me for referring to it; I fancied you were crying, and I ... could not bear to hear it ...
— from White Nights and Other Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - They have a dancing bear, like in the old country, and two-three merry-go-around, and people in balloons, and what you call the big wheel, Rudolph?’
— from My Ántonia by Willa Cather - "Where are you going, then, dear bear?" asked Snow-white.
— from Household Tales by Brothers Grimm by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm - one of the party wounded a brown bear very badly, but being alone did not think proper to pursue him.
— from The Journals of Lewis and Clark, 1804-1806 by William Clark and Meriwether Lewis - OTT: A wife is a scurvy clogdogdo, an unlucky thing, a very foresaid bear-whelp, without any good fashion or breeding: mala bestia.
— from Epicoene; Or, The Silent Woman by Ben Jonson - Don’t sell the bear-skin before you have killed the bear.
— from A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs - Join voices, all ye living Souls: Ye Birds, That singing up to Heaven-gate ascend, Bear on your wings and in your notes his praise.
— from Paradise Lost by John Milton - Such squeamish youths as cannot bear to be connected with a little absurdity, are not worth a regret.
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Once satisfied of this, and that all has been done that can be, the soldiers are always willing to bear the largest measure of privation.
— from Memoirs of General William T. Sherman — Complete by William T. Sherman
