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Literary notes about disservice (AI summary)

The term "disservice" has been employed in literature to convey a sense of harm or injury beyond mere physical damage—it often speaks to a moral or societal failing. In Emerson’s work, for example, it is succinctly equated with "injury," hinting at both personal and communal consequences [1]. Montaigne, however, uses the term to criticize overly cautious language that hampers human potential, suggesting that such verbal excesses would be "no great disservice" if overcome, thus linking the idea of disservice with intellectual as well as social liberation [2]. Meanwhile, in Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's narrative, the term appears within the interpersonal realm, where a final act of "disservice" is presented as an option, underscoring its weight in decisions affecting both honor and duty [3].
  1. [28] Disservice. Injury.
    — from Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson
  2. In fine, whoever could reclaim man from so scrupulous a verbal superstition, would do the world no great disservice.
    — from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne
  3. You will not be dishonoured by my society, and as this is probably the last service, or disservice you can do me, will you grant my request?"
    — from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

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