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Literary notes about enlightenment (AI summary)

In literature, the word "enlightenment" is a multifaceted term that can denote both a personal epiphany and a broader cultural or intellectual awakening. It is often used to describe moments of inner illumination, as when a character experiences a sudden opening of perception or a transformative insight into life and their own identity [1], [2]. At the same time, it serves metaphorically to represent the progress of society and the triumph of knowledge over ignorance, underpinning the ideals of modernity and rational education [3], [4]. In some works, "enlightenment" is invoked with a sense of irony or ambivalence, highlighting the tension between genuine insight and superficial advancement, as seen when it becomes a subject of critique or satire [5], [6]. Whether as a spiritual quest, a marker of scientific progress, or a critique of dogmatic traditions, the term consistently suggests a shift from darkness to clarity—a powerful literary device that underscores the transformative force of understanding and civilization [7], [8].
  1. There my eyes opened on this world; there my eyes were opened to this world; there I found Enlightenment; and there I girt my loins for my Search.
    — from Kim by Rudyard Kipling
  2. " Siddhartha spoke with ecstasy; deeply, this enlightenment had delighted him.
    — from Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
  3. Men move more swiftly and surely to the realization of their ends, but their ends too largely remain what they were prior to scientific enlightenment.
    — from Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey
  4. The state which does not look to the enlightenment and liberty of its subjects must fail in the race.
    — from Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Essay by Immanuel Kant
  5. The enlightenment has been painfully forced upon me, and the discovery is not mine.
    — from Hard Times by Charles Dickens
  6. —I hope Mr Dedalus will work out his theory for the enlightenment of the public.
    — from Ulysses by James Joyce
  7. For centuries Spain had been the centre of civilization, the seat of arts and sciences, of learning, and every form of refined enlightenment.
    — from The Moors in Spain by Stanley Lane-Poole
  8. [293] But the enlightenment of the eighteenth century was itself a fashion and is now quite out of date.
    — from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. Burgess and Robert Ezra Park

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