Literary notes about mind (AI summary)
Throughout literature, the term "mind" carries a spectrum of meanings—from a marker of inner resolve and decision to a repository of memory and philosophical inquiry. Characters often “make up their mind” as a sign of determination and change, highlighting personal agency in navigating life’s dilemmas ([1], [2], [3], [4]). At other times, it signifies a state of being, whether in calm assurance as in a mind at ease ([5]) or a mind troubled by uncertainty or anxiety ([6], [7]). The word also finds life in idiomatic expressions that evoke caution or dismissal—reminding us not to “mind” certain details ([8], [9], [10])—and it serves as a metaphor for broader intellectual and moral landscapes, suggesting everything from the creative force behind individual thought to the philosophical foundation of human existence ([11], [12], [13]).
- Make up your mind to that, or I'll never go," she added resolutely, as he tried to reclaim his load.
— from Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Louisa May Alcott - She made up her mind to go and find it herself.
— from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - She had been beginning to think it would be, but now she had changed her mind entirely.
— from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - I am far from sure that I believed there was anything hopeful in it, but my mind was thoroughly made up that it must be carried into execution.
— from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens - Ps. 1052, my mind is easy, now that fellow’s gone .
— from A Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges by George Martin Lane - Now her departure for Bettsbridge had once more eased his mind, and all his thoughts were on the prospect of his evening with Mattie.
— from Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton - “I should have gone to the City that day, but I was too disturbed in my mind to be able to pay attention to business matters.
— from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - "Never mind me," said Jack; "I can walk as well as you can.
— from The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum - “Mind you don’t throw it away—you hounds.”
— from Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad - Absence is a foe to love; out of sight out of mind.
— from A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs - It is a thought too monstrous to find lodgment in an enlightened human mind.
— from The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors; Or, Christianity Before Christ by Kersey Graves - This 525 is the way in which the study of the one has a power of drawing and converting the mind to the contemplation of true being.
— from The Republic of Plato by Plato - Poetry is the work of poets, not of peoples or communities; artistic creation can never be anything but the production of an individual mind.
— from The EpicAn Essay by Lascelles Abercrombie
