Literary notes about heedful (AI summary)
" Heedful" is often employed in literature to evoke a sense of careful attention and vigilant consideration. It appears in contexts where characters are depicted as being watchful or cautiously observant, whether they are listening intently to a speaker’s words ([1], [2]), following prophetic guidance ([3]) or even managing their surroundings and relationships with conscientious care ([4], [5]). At times, the descriptor lends an almost reverential quality to a character’s duty or moral sensibility—suggesting not just awareness but also an underlying commitment to prudence and responsibility ([6], [7]). In varied narratives, the term enriches both the characterizations and the overall tone, marking actions and thoughts that are deliberate, measured, and infused with purpose ([8], [9]).
- Never in his career had he had more heedful listeners.
— from Thirty by Howard Vincent O'Brien - Now let thine eyes wait heedful on my words, And note thou of this just and pious realm
— from The Divine Comedy by Dante, Illustrated, Paradise, Volume 3 by Dante Alighieri - Here too a guide, when reach'd the mightier wave, The heedful promise of the prophet gave.
— from The Poetical Works of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Bart. M.P. by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron - Mrs. Wemmick, more heedful of the future, put her white gloves in her pocket and assumed her green.
— from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - Thou, heedful of advice, secure proceed; My praise the precept is, be thine the deed.
— from The Odyssey by Homer - Hence the enlightened ruler is heedful, and the good general full of caution.
— from The Art of War by active 6th century B.C. Sunzi - Heedful of the prudent counsel of old Soltali, the Watuta drew back, but still surrounding him, awaiting his fall.
— from My Kalulu, Prince, King and Slave: A Story of Central Africa by Henry M. (Henry Morton) Stanley - “Be more heedful of your words, my daughter,” said she.
— from Good Stories for Great Holidays Arranged for Story-Telling and Reading Aloud and for the Children's Own Reading by Frances Jenkins Olcott - "Ye've got ter be as heedful an' patient es ye bade ther others be.
— from When 'Bear Cat' Went Dry by Charles Neville Buck
