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Literary notes about unpretentious (AI summary)

In literature, the word "unpretentious" is employed to evoke a sense of simplicity and sincerity, whether describing an object, a setting, or even a character’s demeanor. Authors use it to depict modest shops or houses that possess a quiet charm without ostentation (as in [1] and [2]), and to characterize individuals who embody understated elegance and directness (seen in [3] and [4]). The term frequently appears in portrayals of architecture and landscapes, emphasizing functional, unadorned beauty ([5] and [6]), while it also colors descriptions of personal attributes and lifestyles that eschew extravagance in favor of genuine, unassuming quality ([7] and [8]).
  1. "We pride ourselves on not keeping an ordinary shop, but a most unpretentious one, as you see."
    — from The Pleasant Street Partnership: A Neighborhood Story by Mary Finley Leonard
  2. It was just a simple, unpretentious house, set about with big trees, encircled in meadow and field rich with the promise of harvest.
    — from The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein
  3. If anyone observed the unpretentious master and myself as we walked away from the crowded pavement, the onlooker surely suspected us of intoxication.
    — from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
  4. Even I, unpretentious, plain Elizabeth Fairleigh,—but no matter."
    — from Dreams and Dream Stories by Anna Bonus Kingsford
  5. The architecture of San Francisco was, in early days, simple and unpretentious, befitting the modest aspirations of a trading and mining town.
    — from The Heart Line: A Drama of San Francisco by Gelett Burgess
  6. The White House is a two-storied mansion, very unpretentious, standing in pretty grounds.
    — from Jonathan and His Continent: Rambles Through American Society by Jack Allyn
  7. The elders of the church liked him because he was quiet and unpretentious and Mrs. White, the banker's wife, thought him scholarly and refined.
    — from Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life by Sherwood Anderson
  8. All the really great people I have ever met are unpretentious and absolutely charming to work with.
    — from Confessions of an Opera Singer by Kathleen Howard

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