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Literary notes about inconsiderable (AI summary)

The term “inconsiderable” has been deployed with varied nuance across literary works, often to denote a sense of triviality or minimal impact while simultaneously highlighting subtleties in contrast or irony. Philosophers like Hume use it to remark on apparently slight differences that nevertheless shape larger character traits ([1]), while political and economic writers such as Nietzsche and Ukers employ it to underscore costs or contributions that, though seemingly minor, carry important cumulative weight ([2], [3]). In historical narrative, Livy and Tacitus apply it to detail modest fortifications or a small populace, yet these elements often belie their significant strategic or symbolic roles ([4], [5]). Authors also use the term in a reflective or ironic sense—for example, in comparing human actions to divine sacrifice ([6], [7]) or in measuring physical or metaphorical distances that, while modest, set the stage for larger consequences ([8], [9]). Across these examples, “inconsiderable” serves as a tool to both quantify and question what is deemed trivial, inviting readers to reassess the impact of what might initially appear insignificant.
  1. Each character, notwithstanding these inconsiderable differences, appears to me, in practice, pretty durable and untransmutable.
    — from An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals by David Hume
  2. Hence the cost of producing them is greater, and the cost of maintaining them by no means inconsiderable.)
    — from The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book III and IV by Nietzsche
  3. Some coffee appears to be grown in this colony; but exports have been inconsiderable for many years.
    — from All About Coffee by William H. Ukers
  4. The Fossa Quiritium, no inconsiderable defence against the easy access to the city from the low grounds, is the work of king Ancus.
    — from The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Livy
  5. The Burgundians are not mentioned by Tacitus, probably because they were then an inconsiderable people.
    — from The Germany and the Agricola of Tacitus by Cornelius Tacitus
  6. What can make us love and esteem even the most inconsiderable of Mankind more than the Thought that Christ died for him?
    — from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson
  7. "My actions," he wrote, "have been so inconsiderable in the world, that the most durable monument will not perpetuate my folly while it lasts."
    — from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson
  8. this is but an inconsiderable stream about 6 yds.
    — from The Journals of Lewis and Clark, 1804-1806 by William Clark and Meriwether Lewis
  9. In the daylight the bushes were inconsiderable and the path was bright in the morning sun.
    — from Howards End by E. M. Forster

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