Literary notes about endeavour (AI summary)
The term “endeavour” is employed in literature to convey a determined attempt or commitment, ranging from humble obedience to audacious striving. It is often used to indicate a deliberate effort to conform to a higher authority or ideal, as seen when a character vows to align his actions with another’s will ([1]) or to pursue an intellectual quest ([2]). In narratives both grand and personal, it additionally reflects internal struggles—the expression of hope amid adversity ([3], [4]) and the ironic recognition of the limits of human will ([5], [6]). Philosophical texts also employ “endeavour” to illustrate the continuous, sometimes boundless, effort required in moral, ethical, or intellectual pursuits ([7], [8]), thereby enriching its multifaceted role in literary discourse.
- Sir, said I, I will endeavour to conform myself, in all things, to your will.
— from Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson - This proceeds from causes, which I shall endeavour to explain afterwards.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume - "My complaint," he said, "is as if a girth were buckled taut over my breast, and my endeavour in the night is to get it loose."
— from The Life of Horatio, Lord Nelson by Robert Southey - how sincerely did you love me, and endeavour to elevate my mind, until it was on a level with your own.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - And because my endeavour had no end in view it was measureless, always reaching beyond any assigned limit.
— from My Reminiscences by Rabindranath Tagore - What he wants is momentary enjoyment He would make things light for himself,—and a good deal of his spirit gets squandered in this endeavour.
— from The Twilight of the Idols; or, How to Philosophize with the Hammer. The Antichrist by Nietzsche - But the command that makes this a rule cannot command us to have this disposition in actions conformed to duty, but only to endeavour after it.
— from The Critique of Practical Reason by Immanuel Kant - xxxviii.) regard himself with pleasure, and (III. xxix.) will endeavour to please the cause of his emotion.
— from Ethics by Benedictus de Spinoza
