Literary notes about implicit (AI summary)
In literature, the term implicit often signifies underlying trust, assumptions, or attitudes that are understood without being directly stated. Authors use it to suggest a kind of unspoken confidence or reliance, as when a character places unexpressed trust in another’s judgment [1] or in a personal ability to inspire loyalty [2]. It also appears in discussions of cultural and philosophical ideas, emphasizing the foundational beliefs that operate beneath the explicit narrative—beliefs that are taken for granted yet hold significant sway in shaping actions and outcomes [3, 4]. Moreover, implicit obedience or faith, whether in familial relations or social orders, is portrayed as a powerful, almost inherent force that informs behavior without overt declaration [5, 6].
- MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:—Lord Backwater tells me that I may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion.
— from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - There was a sort of implicit confidence in him that he was really such a good fellow at bottom, Providence would not treat him harshly.
— from Adam Bede by George Eliot - The implicit is made explicit; what was unconsciously assumed is exposed to the light of conscious day.
— from How We Think by John Dewey - In all these different uses we may observe the gradual unfolding of the concept which seems to have been implicit in the word as it was first used.
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. Burgess and Robert Ezra Park - The Hindu wife, when her husband dies, must yield implicit obedience to the oldest son.
— from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I - The devout polytheist, though fondly attached to his national rites, admitted with implicit faith the different religions of the earth.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
