Literary notes about good (AI summary)
The word "good" in literature is remarkably versatile, functioning as both an intensifier and a descriptor of quality or morality. It appears in exclamations that express surprise or emphasis, as in the dramatic "Good gracious" ([1]), and is used to convey cheer, comfort, or approval in descriptions of settings and actions ([2], [3]). In other instances, it evaluates performance or character, highlighting virtues or indicating a praiseworthy nature ([4], [5], [6], [7]). The term also extends into abstract realms, suggesting balance between positive and negative forces or serving as commentary on fate and fortune ([8], [9], [10]). Thus, "good" enriches narrative tone by contributing layers of meaning that mirror the complexity of human emotion and judgment throughout literature.
- Good gracious, what is the man?" exclaims Volumnia.
— from Bleak House by Charles Dickens - He pointed with pleasure to the indications of good cheer reeking from the chimneys of the comfortable farm-houses and low thatched cottages.
— from The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon by Washington Irving - At one side is the stove, with a cheerful fire of oak wood, near by a good supply of fresh sticks, whose faint aroma is plain.
— from Complete Prose Works by Walt Whitman - I am sorry to hear it—he has too good a character to be an honest Fellow.
— from The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan - But he says: “They are good, simple, patriarchal people, glad to see anybody.”
— from Plays by Anton Chekhov, Second Series by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - “I was that child, my father, I was not half so good, but in my love that was I.”
— from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - One so gentle towards a foe was sure to be a good friend; and indeed his pages are full of generous gratitude to those who had served him.
— from Meditations by Emperor of Rome Marcus Aurelius - For what profited me good abilities, not employed to good uses?
— from The Confessions of St. Augustine by Bishop of Hippo Saint Augustine - I suppose, however, that heaven grudged us such great good fortune, for it has prevented the poor fellow from ever getting home at all.
— from The Odyssey by Homer - In the body restraint is good, good is restraint in speech, in thought restraint is good, good is restraint in all things.
— from Dhammapada, a Collection of Verses; Being One of the Canonical Books of the Buddhists
