Literary notes about pious (AI summary)
In literature, the term "pious" is employed to evoke both genuine spiritual devotion and a sometimes ironic nod to socially prescribed religiosity. In some works, such as the description of votive customs in Catholic settings [1] or the portrayal of spiritual ascension and the renunciation of sensual pleasures [2], it underscores a sincere adherence to religious discipline. Meanwhile, other writers use it to hint at performative or even self-mocking attitudes toward faith, as when a character is sarcastically addressed amidst moral critiques [3] or when modest piety is juxtaposed with social irony [4]. Its usage also extends to epic and historical narratives, where it both dignifies ritual observances [5, 6] and recognizes the moral fabric of a community [7, 8]. Thus, across genres and eras, "pious" becomes a versatile term that reflects both heartfelt reverence and a critique of ostentatious devotion.
- I T is a pious custom in some Catholic countries to honor the memory of saints by votive lights burnt before their pictures.
— from The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon by Washington Irving - Persons truly pious do not thus mistake, they are disengaged from all sensual pleasures, and raise their desires to heaven.
— from Letters of Abelard and Heloise by Peter Abelard and Héloïse - “Well, here’s a pious dog, at last, let down among us sinners!—a saint, a gentleman, and no less, to talk to us sinners about our sins!
— from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe - “Lord forbidding is pious, but not to the purpose,” returned Mr. Jaggers.
— from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - Each with a Phrygian mantle veil’d his head, And all commands of Helenus obey’d, And pious rites to Gre
— from The Aeneid by Virgil - Thus while he dealt it round, the pious chief With cheerful words allay’d the common grief: “Endure, and conquer!
— from The Aeneid by Virgil - Such pious resignation has in it something pathetic and constrained, which Dante could not or would not disguise.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana - In other words, pious men discern God in the excellence of things.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana
