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Literary notes about efficient (AI summary)

The term "efficient" functions as a versatile descriptor in literary discourse, often emphasizing performance and the underlying causes of phenomena. In narrative and historical texts alike, it characterizes both individuals and processes as proficient, whether referring to swift, effective actors [1] or skilled officers and organized staffs [2][3]. Philosophical and scientific writings extend its usage to denote the causal principles behind events, discussing efficient causes in nature and creation [4][5][6]. The word also surfaces in discussions of social and political systems, where efficient methods, organizations, or even educational practices are highlighted to achieve desirable outcomes [7][8][9]. Whether used to praise the promptness of military campaigns [10][11] or to critique flawed administrative mechanisms [12], "efficient" imbues the subject with a sense of optimal function and purposeful design, contributing varied layers of meaning across genres [13][14].
  1. Are the real pleasures of life, the things truly worth while, only to the swift—the most efficient?
    — from All About Coffee by William H. Ukers
  2. I notified him, also, that I had sent Grierson to take command of his cavalry, he being a very efficient officer.
    — from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. Grant
  3. Mr. Brisbane could find all these things and give them to the public by using his efficient staff of investigators and writers on this Question.
    — from The International Jew : The World's Foremost Problem by Anonymous
  4. Nor is it possible to ascertain either their final or efficient cause.
    — from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1
  5. .that is, the principle, the source, and the efficient cause of the whole creation.
    — from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
  6. If the further question be asked, What was the efficient cause of their evil will?
    — from The City of God, Volume I by Bishop of Hippo Saint Augustine
  7. This organization incessantly keeps up the insistence of the population on becoming strong and efficient.
    — from Nationalism by Rabindranath Tagore
  8. In our country the most efficient, untiring laborers in the anti-slavery cause, have from the beginning been women.
    — from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I
  9. This state of affairs can only be rectified by a really efficient education of youth.
    — from Galen: On the Natural Faculties by Galen
  10. The Army of Northern Virginia was not likely to be stronger or more efficient.
    — from Paradise Lost by John Milton
  11. In A.D. 627 there was an efficient standing army of 900,000 men, the term of service being from the ages of twenty to sixty.
    — from Myths and Legends of China by E. T. C. Werner
  12. We have no machines, no good stock, no efficient supervision; we don’t even know how to keep accounts.
    — from Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy
  13. He is the typical soldier,—silent, uncomplaining, brave, and efficient!
    — from Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil by W. E. B. Du Bois
  14. You know, Watson, I don’t mind confessing to you that I have always had an idea that I would have made a highly efficient criminal.
    — from The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

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