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Literary notes about precepts (AI summary)

The term "precepts" in literature often signifies foundational rules or guiding principles that shape moral or societal conduct. Authors invoke it to denote divine commandments and ethical tenets, as seen in passages urging obedience to sacred law [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. At the same time, writers extend its use to encapsulate broader doctrines—from the natural laws advocated by Rousseau [7] to the philosophical maxims underpinning artistic and cultural traditions [8, 9]. Frequently, the word also conveys the idea of inherited customs or practical instructions that govern everyday behavior, whether in religious, philosophical, or even social etiquette contexts [10, 11, 12]. Thus, "precepts" serves as a versatile literary device, merging the realms of moral obligation and cultural convention.
  1. Keep therefore the precepts and ceremonies and judgments, which I command thee this day to do.
    — from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
  2. And if thou wilt walk in my ways, and keep my precepts and my commandments, as thy father walked, I will lengthen thy days.
    — from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
  3. These are the judgments, and precepts, and laws, which the Lord gave between him and the children of Israel, in mount Sinai, by the hand of Moses.
    — from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
  4. And he that kepeth my commandmentes, and precepts, sayth our Lord God: Let not your sinnes ouerway you, nor your inquities be aduanced ouer you.
    — from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
  5. My son, keep my words, and lay up my precepts with thee.
    — from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
  6. Thou hast chosen the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways and keep his ceremonies, and precepts, and judgments, and obey his command.
    — from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
  7. From this I conclude that it is false to say that the precepts of natural law are based on reason only; they have a firmer and more solid foundation.
    — from Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
  8. The precepts of Horace, on this point, are grounded on the nature both of poetry and of the human mind.
    — from Biographia Literaria by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  9. The legislator must teach these precepts as well as command them.
    — from Laws by Plato
  10. A Few Precepts Of Convention At a dinner party given for young people in a private house, a somewhat older sister would be a sufficient chaperon.
    — from Etiquette by Emily Post
  11. I am simply applying to ordinary life a few of those precepts of observation and deduction which I advocated in that article.
    — from A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
  12. Hence all sorts of precepts looking to all sorts of results.
    — from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana

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