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Literary notes about future (AI summary)

In literature, the word "future" is a multifaceted term that functions both as a marker of destiny and as a tool for philosophical and grammatical exploration. Authors employ it to evoke personal responsibility and anticipation, as in Galsworthy's assertion that "His future is in your hands" [1], and to underline abstract ideals that might never be fully attained, such as Kant's notion of a perfected humanity existing only in the distant future [2]. It often connotes both hope and foreboding—for instance, Dickens and Tolstoy use it to hint at the promises or dangers that lie ahead [3, 4]. At times, "future" extends into a realm of theoretical discourse, appearing in discussions about future tense constructions and the preservation of meaning for future use [5, 6]. Whether employed to illustrate social, moral, or personal evolution, the term remains a versatile literary device that bridges the uncharted territories of what is yet to come with the immediacy of present circumstance.
  1. His future is in your hands.
    — from Justice by John Galsworthy
  2. In peace, for them, lies the true ideal of humanity, although in any perfect form this cannot be realised in the near future.
    — from Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Essay by Immanuel Kant
  3. His friend responded as Eugene would have had him respond, and they discoursed of the future until Lizzie came back.
    — from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
  4. “Oh, you know what for; for your sake and your children’s in the future.”
    — from Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy
  5. THE FUTURE PERFECT PASSIVE TENSE.
    — from A Complete Grammar of Esperanto by Ivy Kellerman Reed
  6. But a meaning fixed by a linguistic sign is conserved for future use.
    — from How We Think by John Dewey

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