Literary notes about resemblance (AI summary)
The word “resemblance” has long served as a versatile tool in literature, used to draw comparisons ranging from concrete physical likenesses to more abstract similarities in thought, character, or structure. In some works, it marks a single unifying thought or characteristic—as when Chekhov describes the central point common to all ideas ([1], [2]). In other texts, it bridges the gap between the tangible and the metaphorical: Dickens and Austen compare faces and form to evoke identity ([3], [4]), while Hume and others use resemblance to explore philosophical and moral relations ([5], [6], [7], [8]). Authors sometimes focus on linguistic or cultural echoes, noting how names or terms recall ancient words or natural objects, as seen in Mooney’s and Jefferson’s observations ([9], [10], [11]). Even when employed in a whimsical or ironic tone, as in the playful exclamations by Chekhov ([12]), the concept remains central to articulating the way similarities—whether striking or accidental—shape our perceptions and understanding of the world.
- All his thoughts, however noble, lofty, or neutral they may be, they all have one point of resemblance.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - The one point of resemblance between the two authors is simply in the tremendous magnitude of their genius.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - It appears to me a most perfect resemblance in every feature.
— from Emma by Jane Austen - "Such," said Colonel Brandon, after a pause, "has been the unhappy resemblance between the fate of mother and daughter!
— from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - SOME DEGREE OF RESEMBLANCE.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume - But though resemblance be necessary to all philosophical relation, it does not follow, that it always produces a connexion or association of ideas.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume - But it is from this resemblance, that the ideas of necessity, of power, and of efficacy, are derived.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume - Secondly, Give a reason, why the resemblance of our broken and interrupted perceptions induces us to attribute an identity to them.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume - The only grain of truth in the story is that the name has a slight resemblance to năkwĭsĭ′ , the Cherokee word for “star.”
— from Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney - The name refers to a gourd, from a fancied resemblance of the long nose to the handle of a gourd.
— from Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney - Mr. Blyth states that he was struck with the resemblance between a brush-tailed race of pariah-dogs, north-west of Cawnpore, and the Indian wolf.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - What a resemblance!
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov