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Literary notes about daunted (AI summary)

The term "daunted" in literature often conveys a critical juncture where characters are confronted with seemingly insurmountable challenges yet must decide whether to yield or muster courage. It is used to both highlight vulnerability and to underscore a determined resistance against overwhelming odds. In many narratives, figures are described as "nothing daunted," emphasizing their indomitable spirit and readiness to confront adversity head on ([1], [2], [3], [4]). At times, however, the word marks a moment of palpable hesitation or inner turmoil, indicating that the weight of a daunting task or formidable opponent momentarily overshadows resolve ([5], [6], [7]). Whether reinforcing valor or intimating inner conflict, "daunted" serves as a nuanced device that reflects the complexities of human resilience in the face of challenge ([8], [9]).
  1. But Washington was not to be daunted by any kind of difficulty.
    — from Strange Stories from History for Young People by George Cary Eggleston
  2. A farmer, a hunter, a soldier, a reporter, even a philosopher, may be daunted; but nothing can deter a poet, for he is actuated by pure love.
    — from Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
  3. [secretly daunted, but rising from his knees with an air of reckless pugnacity] I ain't afraid of you.
    — from Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philosophy by Bernard Shaw
  4. It was because nothing daunted him that he had been chosen for government courier.
    — from The call of the wild by Jack London
  5. As he now went up the weary and perpetual steps, he was daunted and bewildered by their almost infinite series.
    — from The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare by G. K. Chesterton
  6. But the devilish look of him daunted me.
    — from The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
  7. He is ready—his face very red and daunted.
    — from The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence
  8. He was thinking, 'I will not be daunted from doing as I choose by the thought of her.
    — from North and South by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
  9. Well, Suffolk, thou shalt not see me blush Nor change my countenance for this arrest: A heart unspotted is not easily daunted.
    — from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

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