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Literary notes about stand (AI summary)

The word stand functions in literature as a versatile term that spans both physical positioning and metaphorical resistance. In some works it emphasizes a literal presence, as when a character proclaims, "I stand here on the summit of the mountain" [1] or "Here I stand, and will, till I have done my errand" [2]. In others the term conveys endurance or an emotional threshold—the worn tolerance of a situation, as seen in expressions like "It's more than I can stand, my dear fellow!" [3] or "She was proud and could not stand contempt" [4]. At times, stand invites us to consider notions of support, defiance, and the stability of institutions and beliefs, evident in phrases arguing that "a house divided against itself cannot stand" [5] or asserting that walls or ideologies must persist until overcome [6]. Additionally, its usage in contexts involving physical support or collective action—illustrated by sentiments such as "stand by me" [7]—further underscores its rich symbolic and pragmatic dimensions in literary language.
  1. I stand here on the summit of the mountain.
    — from Anthem by Ayn Rand
  2. Here I stand, and will, till I have done my errand.’
    — from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
  3. It's more than I can stand, my dear fellow!
    — from Short Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  4. She was proud and could not stand contempt.
    — from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  5. “A house divided against itself cannot stand.
    — from He Knew Lincoln, and Other Billy Brown Stories by Ida M. (Ida Minerva) Tarbell
  6. Troy must not be, nor goodly Ilion stand; Our firebrand brother, Paris, burns us all.
    — from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
  7. “Stand not by me, but stand under me, whoever you are that will now help Stubb; for Stubb, too, sticks here.
    — from Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville

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