Literary notes about strive (AI summary)
The term “strive” occupies a versatile role in literature, connoting an earnest effort or an active struggle that ranges from the pursuit of personal virtue to the battle against external hardships. In some writings, it captures the intensity of human ambition and moral duty, as seen when characters endeavor to attain honor or righteousness [1, 2, 3]. At other times, it conveys a determined resistance against oppressive forces or internal limitations, reflecting both physical confrontations and inner conflicts [4, 5, 6]. Moreover, the word has been employed in epic narratives to signify the far-reaching efforts required to shape destinies and reconcile opposing truths [7, 8, 9]. Whether manifesting as a call to overcome adversity or a reflective longing for self-improvement and truth, “strive” remains a powerful vehicle for expressing the complexities of human endeavor throughout literary history [10, 11, 12].
- I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
— from Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning - Let every man, then, freely strive for the prize of virtue, and let there be no envy.
— from Laws by Plato - Strive, therefore, to turn away thy heart from the love of the things that are seen, and to set it upon the things that are not seen.
— from The Imitation of Christ by à Kempis Thomas - We will strive against the oppressor with prayer and fasting, as our forefathers would have done.
— from Twice-told tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne - ‘When workmen strive to do better than well, They do confound their skill in covetousness.’ (King John, Act iv.
— from The Republic of Plato by Plato - You will make me strive to follow you where it is pathless.
— from The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne - Sooth, generally for women, A man might strive to make glass malleable, Ere he should make them fixed.
— from The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster - Duryodhana, strive to maintain thy good name.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 - In the linguistic history of this word, the original meaning was "against," still shown in fight with, strive with, contend with, withstand , etc.
— from A Complete Grammar of Esperanto by Ivy Kellerman Reed - Only to this aim can we always strive independently of circumstances.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - Many millions, united into nations, strive for the common good, each individual on account of his own; but many thousands fall as a sacrifice for it.
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. Burgess and Robert Ezra Park - Nor do the bold Rutulians care longer to continue the blind fight, but strive to clear the rampart with missiles. . . .
— from The Aeneid of Virgil by Virgil
