Literary notes about utterance (AI summary)
In literature, the term "utterance" is employed to convey both the act of speaking and the deeper expression of internal emotion or thought. Authors often use it to illustrate a spontaneous outpouring of feelings or ideas, as when a character speaks from the heart or is caught in a moment of overwhelming passion [1, 2]. At other times, "utterance" underscores the deliberate clarity or, conversely, the struggle and inhibition in communication, highlighting the challenges of precise verbal expression or the silencing of repressed emotions [3, 4, 5]. In various works, it even extends to symbolize prophetic or oracular pronouncements that connect individual sentiment with broader, almost mystical, significance [6, 7].
- I must speak at last, give utterance to what is surging in my heart!"
— from White Nights and Other Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Oh, why cannot I fall on your neck, and, with floods of tears and raptures, give utterance to all the passions which distract my heart!
— from The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - 8. Explain how the false shame of seeming to be too precise may hinder us from cultivating perfect verbal utterance.
— from The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein - If the thought beneath your words is warm, fresh, spontaneous, a part of your self , your utterance will have breath and life.
— from The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein - Distinct and precise utterance is one of the most important considerations of public speech.
— from The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein - Apollo at Delphi, through the oracular utterance of his priestess, pronounced Socrates the wisest of men.
— from The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio - You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat.
— from The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe
