Literary notes about understanding (AI summary)
In literature, “understanding” is deployed as a multifaceted concept that can denote not only an intellectual grasp of ideas but also moral insight and intuitive connection. In spiritual and philosophical texts, it is often equated with divine wisdom and ethical behavior—for instance, it is presented as an accompaniment to the fear of the Lord and moral rectitude [1, 2, 3]. In narrative fiction, authors employ the term to evoke both precise cognitive recognition, as when characters subtly communicate without words [4, 5], and moments of perplexity or emotional distance where comprehension seems to elude them [6, 7]. Moreover, works of critical theory and psychoanalysis consider understanding as a faculty linked with judgment and the capacity to discern meaning from complexity [8, 9, 10]. This rich variability underscores the word’s power to encapsulate both the clarity of rational thought and the nuanced layers of emotional and ethical perception.
- Who maketh understanding to abound as the Euphrates, who multiplieth it as the Jordan in the time of harvest.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - And he said to man: Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom: and to depart from evil, is understanding.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - In thy wisdom and thy understanding thou hast made thyself strong: and hast gotten gold an silver into thy treasures.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - She took off her cloak, and Bilson, with an understanding look, did not even open the drawing-room door for her, but ran downstairs.
— from The Forsyte Saga, Volume I. by John Galsworthy - They looked at each other in a grin of understanding.
— from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis - John looked puzzled, not quite understanding the portent of this cryptic saying.
— from The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie - She still looked about her upon the great maze of the city without understanding.
— from Sister Carrie: A Novel by Theodore Dreiser - For the sake of completeness its complement may be defined thus: Judgment is the practical Understanding; it is that faculty
— from Know the Truth: A Critique on the Hamiltonian Theory of Limitation by Jesse Henry Jones - NINE MEANING: OR CONCEPTIONS AND UNDERSTANDING § 1.
— from How We Think by John Dewey - Through this comparison, however, we have come no nearer understanding the nature of repression.
— from A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
