Literary notes about exist (AI summary)
The word "exist" in literature is employed in a variety of ways to convey both concrete and abstract notions of being. In many texts, it denotes physical presence or absence, as seen in historical recountings where cities, armies, or ruins "ceased to exist" ([1], [2], [3]), as well as in scientific or logical contexts that imply a demonstrable reality ([4], [5]). At the same time, authors use "exist" metaphorically and philosophically to explore ideas such as the permanence of the soul or the theoretical presence of abstract entities, as found in discussions of morality and metaphysics ([6], [7], [8], [9]). There are also instances where the term is employed to challenge our perceptions of reality, suggesting that things may exist only in concept or potentiality ([10], [11], [12]). Overall, "exist" serves as a flexible tool in literature, bridging tangible facts and deeper existential inquiries.
- They have ceased to exist.
— from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I - Extensive ruins still exist there.
— from The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 1 (of 6) by the Elder Pliny - After the French victory at Borodinó there was no general engagement nor any that were at all serious, yet the French army ceased to exist.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - All substances, in so far as they can be perceived in space at the same time, exist in a state of complete reciprocity of action.
— from The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant - Fallacy of Like Eliminands not asserted to exist. 31. Concl.
— from Symbolic Logic by Lewis Carroll - In 1837 it offered a prize of £30 for the best exposition of the moral reasons which exist to keep men from torturing animals.
— from The Basis of Morality by Arthur Schopenhauer - If the will were changed, and therefore the anguish of conscience mere repentance, it would cease to exist.
— from The World as Will and Idea (Vol. 1 of 3) by Arthur Schopenhauer - For an infinite thing (I. xxi., xxii.), must always necessarily exist; this would (by II.
— from Ethics by Benedictus de Spinoza - For if it were of the same nature, God, by that very fact, would be admitted to exist.
— from Ethics by Benedictus de Spinoza - This is merely a derived and secondary characteristic, and, as a matter of fact, does not always exist, though it must always exist potentially.
— from The World as Will and Idea (Vol. 1 of 3) by Arthur Schopenhauer - The latter are only in the conception, exist only in the connection of knowledge, so far as it follows the principle of sufficient reason.
— from The World as Will and Idea (Vol. 1 of 3) by Arthur Schopenhauer - “Well,” said Chichikov, “they exist, though only in idea.”
— from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol
