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Literary notes about matters (AI summary)

In literature, the term "matters" is remarkably versatile, serving as a placeholder for everything from trivial concerns to issues of life-altering importance. For instance, it appears in light, everyday observations—Austen’s mention of “little matters” that suit a character’s penchant for gossip [1]—while simultaneously being used to denote serious public and personal affairs, as seen in discussions of professional ethics [2] or religious convictions [3]. At times, the word underscores a shift in narrative or the progression of events, whether it’s hastening the unfolding of a mystery [4] or conveying the inevitability of fate ([5, 6]). Even within realms of opinion versus fact, "matters" demonstrates its ambiguity—sometimes suggesting that outcomes are insignificant ([7, 8]) and at other times asserting that “what matters” is precisely the core truth of a situation ([9, 10]). This range illustrates how authors across centuries have employed the term to capture both mundane details and critical turning points in human affairs.
  1. She was a great talker upon little matters, which exactly suited Mr. Woodhouse, full of trivial communications and harmless gossip.
    — from Emma by Jane Austen
  2. I am aware, Mr. Holmes, that you take a very high line in professional matters, and that you are prepared to work for the work’s sake.
    — from The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
  3. He is faithful in his religious duties and respects the convictions of others in matters of custom and religion.
    — from Boy Scouts Handbook by Boy Scouts of America
  4. This circumstance hastened matters.
    — from Best Russian Short Stories
  5. It is simply the feeling that what happens to such a being does not matter; all that matters is what she is.
    — from Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth by A. C. Bradley
  6. You are bringing matters to a head.
    — from The Lani People by Jesse F. Bone
  7. What they said matters little.
    — from The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales by Bret Harte
  8. “O Peter, you know it matters.”
    — from Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
  9. What matters is the fact that, under different circumstances, their approval could have been taken as a foregone conclusion.
    — from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol
  10. Everything matters.”
    — from The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

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