Literary notes about dross (AI summary)
In literature, the word “dross” is frequently deployed as a metaphor for the worthless or impure remnants that obscure what is truly valuable. Authors from Bunyan ([1]) to Mark Twain ([2]) use it to denote that which is spiritually or morally deficient, contrasting it with the refined or essential core of human experience. This metaphor extends to depictions of society and personal character: while Dickens ([3], [4]) and Thoreau ([5]) invoke dross to critique superficiality and base impulses, others like Clausewitz ([6]) and James Allen ([7]) employ the term to illustrate a process of purification—removing dross to reveal that which is pure and enduring. In every instance, dross stands as a powerful symbol for that which must be discarded or transcended in the quest for authenticity and greatness.
- What of my dross thou findest there
— from The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan Every Child Can Read by John Bunyan - Money has no material value; if you remove its spiritual value nothing is left but dross.
— from What Is Man? and Other Essays by Mark Twain - Dross to, dross!
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens - ‘He is content,’ said Ralph, relaxing into a smile, ‘to set his known character and conduct against the power of money—dross, as he calls it.
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens - The laborer, looking into it at evening, purifies his thoughts of the dross and earthiness which they have accumulated during the day.
— from Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau - Perhaps soon a greater head may appear, and instead of these single grains, give the whole in a casting of pure metal without dross.
— from On War by Carl von Clausewitz - There could be no object in burning gold after the dross had been removed, and a perfectly pure and enlightened being could not suffer.
— from As a man thinketh by James Allen
