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Literary notes about benefactor (AI summary)

In literature, the term benefactor is often employed to signify a figure whose support and generosity shape the lives and fortunes of others. Authors use it both in historical and personal contexts; for instance, in accounts of empires and political intrigue, it may refer to powerful patrons whose benevolence is intertwined with authority and duty ([1], [2], [3], [4]), while in more intimate narratives it becomes a term of endearment and gratitude, evoking images of familial or friendly guardianship ([5], [6], [7]). The word also carries layers of irony and social critique as seen in novels where benefaction is both lauded and scrutinized, pointing to the complexities of dependency and indebtedness within human relationships ([8], [9], [10]). Moreover, its use extends to mythological and allegorical texts, where benefactors are elevated as seminal figures, sometimes even divine, whose influence resonates beyond mortal realms ([11], [12], [13]).
  1. Would prudence or gratitude allow the pontiffs to renounce their benefactor?
    — from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
  2. Yet the temperate firmness with which Leo resisted the oppression of his benefactor, showed that he was conscious of his duty and of his prerogative.
    — from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
  3. 44 The tyrant of Rome was sometimes the benefactor of the provinces.
    — from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
  4. The servile, or grateful, freedman understood the hint, and yielded without hesitation to the love of his benefactor.
    — from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
  5. I shall always feel that you are a benefactor.
    — from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
  6. And when alone with mamma he said, "Our best friend, our benefactor, is about to leave us.
    — from The Letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Volume 01 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  7. “Dear Father, God reward you, our benefactor, who prays for all of us and for our sins!”
    — from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  8. So I'll be a benefactor to society, and go.
    — from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
  9. “Is my benefactor to be made known to me to-day?” “No.
    — from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
  10. That Dutch bottle was found by my noble benefactor and yours, after he entered on possession of the estate.
    — from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
  11. Athens acknowledged him for her benefactor; Argos, for her deliverer.
    — from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
  12. The king of the snakes is ever our friend and benefactor.
    — from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1
  13. Agastya is the great sage who has already frequently appeared as Ráma's friend and benefactor.
    — from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki

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