Literary notes about satisfaction (AI summary)
The term “satisfaction” appears in literature with a wide range of nuances and functions. At times, it represents a deeply personal feeling—a quiet, internal contentment felt by a character even in mundane circumstances ([1], [2]). In other instances, it serves as an evaluative standard, reflecting aesthetic judgment or a philosophical ideal, as when it comes to the assessment of beauty and taste ([3], [4]). The word can also carry an ironic or even darker connotation: characters sometimes experience a perverse or calculated satisfaction, indicating a more ambivalent emotional state or a pursuit of retribution ([5], [6]). Such varied use underscores its flexibility in spanning personal fulfillment, ethical judgment, and complex emotional response.
- The scout laughed in his silent but heartfelt manner, and shook his head with vast satisfaction.
— from The Last of the Mohicans; A narrative of 1757 by James Fenimore Cooper - When he had a dollar in his pocket his satisfaction with existence was the greatest thing in the world.
— from Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane - The object of such satisfaction is called beautiful .
— from Kant's Critique of Judgement by Immanuel Kant - A judgement of taste is therefore pure, only so far as no merely empirical satisfaction is mingled with its determining ground.
— from Kant's Critique of Judgement by Immanuel Kant - There was a swooning, perverse satisfaction in it.
— from The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence - He has evidently picked up the scent again," said I. "Ah, then he has been at fault too," exclaimed Jones, with evident satisfaction.
— from The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
