Literary notes about commit (AI summary)
The word "commit" in literature is remarkably versatile, often conveying notions of both action and responsibility. It is used to denote the undertaking of acts that carry moral, legal, or personal weight—from committing an offence, crime, or sin ([1], [2], [3]) to performing acts of self-harm or violence ([4], [5], [6]). At the same time, it marks a dedication or decision to a particular course of action, as when characters resolve to commit their thoughts to paper or entrust a cherished relic to another’s care ([7], [8], [9]). In many works, the term underscores the irrevocable nature of decisions, whether those be commendable acts of loyalty or tragic errors resulting in downfall ([10], [11], [12]).
- Thou canst not have had time to commit any new offence since that time?”
— from Ivanhoe: A Romance by Walter Scott - Now if thou do not commit adultery, but shalt kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - But if you have respect to persons, you commit sin, being reproved by the law as transgressors.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - Her mother will not permit the affianced one to see her, and he makes several attempts to commit suicide.
— from The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales by Bret Harte - George said he himself intended to commit suicide at sixty.
— from The Forsyte Saga, Volume I. by John Galsworthy - To commit suicide or shoot one’s wife with a Lefaucher revolver is considered bad form nowadays.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - "I commit you, my kind nurse, to your uncle's care; to yours I entrust the dearest relic of my better self.
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - I shall commit my thoughts to paper, it is true; but that is a poor medium for the communication of feeling.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - The work--as it is, not as it ought to be--I commit to your kindness.
— from Fables of La Fontaine — a New Edition, with Notes by Jean de La Fontaine - Thinking them only drowsy, they waited for their deeper sleep, wishing to stay until a heavier slumber gave them a chance to commit their crime.
— from The Danish History, Books I-IX by Grammaticus Saxo - 422.—All passions make us commit some faults, love alone makes us ridiculous.
— from Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims by François duc de La Rochefoucauld - “The only difference is that I don’t contend that extraordinary people are always bound to commit breaches of morals, as you call it.
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
