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Literary notes about frail (AI summary)

The term frail is often employed to evoke vulnerability and delicacy, both as a description of physical weakness and as a metaphor for the transient nature of life. It appears in depictions of delicate human bodies—such as a man who cannot be left alone due to his fragile health [1] or a decrepit body succumbing slowly to its limits [2, 3]—and in illustrative portrayals of structures and settings, like a scaffolding barely able to support weight [4] or a tottering throne hinting at the impermanence of power [5]. Beyond the tangible, frail also characterizes the limits of human thought and spirit, suggesting that finite minds or fleeting moments, though delicate, carry profound significance [6, 7, 8].
  1. My colleague, Father Gerasim, is a frail and delicate man, and cannot be left alone for long.
    — from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
  2. At last Becky’s frail limbs refused to carry her farther.
    — from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete by Mark Twain
  3. The mother’s heart seemed to stop—Lelechka lay there so small, so frail, so quiet.
    — from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
  4. " I took him the white paint, and afterwards, when I let myself down by the frail scaffolding, she looked at me, touched to tears and smiling.
    — from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
  5. The frail Latin throne in Constantinople was still standing, but tottering to its fall.
    — from The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Marco Polo and da Pisa Rusticiano
  6. You may be sure, then, that the frail finite mind of your audience will likewise demand rest.
    — from The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein
  7. His "soul became exceeding sorrowful," as a frail, finite being.
    — from The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors; Or, Christianity Before Christ by Kersey Graves
  8. All of us are weak and frail; hold thou no man more frail than thyself.
    — from The Imitation of Christ by à Kempis Thomas

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