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Literary notes about doing (AI summary)

The word “doing” in literature is a dynamic little term that encapsulates both the literal and the figurative aspects of action. Authors often use it to anchor a character’s experiences in the immediacy of their behavior—as when characters grapple with what they are “doing” without a clear purpose ([1], [2]) or when dialogue centers on inquiring about daily undertakings ([3], [4]). At the same time, “doing” can highlight a sense of duty or moral endeavor, reflecting both personal initiative and societal obligations; for example, it is used to evoke committed engagement in tasks ([5], [6], [7]), or even to underscore the notion that one’s fulfillment comes from the act of doing rather than the outcome itself ([8], [9]). This versatility allows “doing” to serve as a bridge between physical action and deeper existential meaning, enriching narratives across genres and eras.
  1. I traversed the streets, without any clear conception of where I was, or what I was doing.
    — from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
  2. And what would I be doing if I left Pegeen?
    — from The Playboy of the Western World: A Comedy in Three Acts by J. M. Synge
  3. He greeted them, and asked what they were doing in this place.
    — from The Arabian Nights Entertainments by Andrew Lang
  4. “Then what on earth can he be doing?
    — from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
  5. I am doing my duty, the officers and men are doing theirs; my heart is breaking, but my conscience is at rest.
    — from Napoleon's Letters to Josephine, 1796-1812 by Emperor of the French Napoleon I
  6. And all four orders took pleasure in doing their respective duties and never performed religious acts for obtaining fruition of desires.
    — from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1
  7. “You may rely upon my doing all that I can.”
    — from Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
  8. It is an ancient truism that we learn to do by doing.
    — from The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein
  9. “It is not in what you succeed in doing that you get your joy, but in the doing of it.
    — from Martin Eden by Jack London

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