Literary notes about disposition (AI summary)
In literature, the term "disposition" is employed to convey a range of ideas—from a person’s inner nature or temperament to the arrangement of forces or elements. It often characterizes inherent personality traits, as when an individual is noted for a naturally argumentative or gentle character ([1], [2]), or when a cheerful nature is highlighted to reveal personal inclinations ([3], [4]). At times, the term shifts in meaning, addressing the organization or strategic positioning of objects or groups, as seen in military contexts or the orderly arrangement of ingredients ([5], [6], [7]). Philosophical and moral discussions also invoke "disposition" to reflect on inclinations towards virtue or what might be termed an internal configuration of the mind ([8], [9], [10]). Thus, the word serves as a versatile tool in literature to explore both the emotional and structural dimensions of characters and settings.
- You see, he was of an argumentative disposition.
— from What Is Man? and Other Essays by Mark Twain - Still more noteworthy, however, was the unvarying sweetness and equability of her disposition.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - She told the story, however, with great spirit among her friends; for she had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous.
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - I am of a cheerful disposition myself, and Mr. Vincy always likes something to be going on.
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot - Secondly, in his disposition of his forces he showed great skill.
— from Plutarch's Lives, Volume 1 (of 4) by Plutarch - I left Logan to make the proper disposition of his troops for the night, while I rode into the town with an escort of about twenty cavalry.
— from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. Grant - Defense of squares; disposition of artillery.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - What then is it which justifies virtue or the morally good disposition, in making such lofty claims?
— from Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals by Immanuel Kant - On this object I bestow a relation to self; and find, that from this disposition of affairs, there immediately arises a passion.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume - Temperate, kindly, wise, of ungrudging disposition, a merry heart upon the road, never forgetting, learned, truthful, courteous.
— from Kim by Rudyard Kipling
