Literary notes about honorable (AI summary)
The word "honorable" is deployed in literature as a marker of high moral character, often evoking images of duty, integrity, and refined social standing. In poetic verse it can elevate a role—casting a woman’s life in a light of noble purpose as in [1]—while historical narratives wield it to confer legitimacy on political or military actions, as in accounts of treaties and appointments [2][3]. Novelists similarly use the term to shape character perception, whether to commend personal virtue or to illustrate societal expectations, as demonstrated in portrayals of gentle, principled figures [4][5][6]. At times, its employment carries an ironic twist, subtly critiquing the very concept of honor by contrasting lofty ideals with human frailty [7][8].
- She rose to his requirement, dropped The playthings of her life To take the honorable work Of woman and of wife.
— from Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete by Emily Dickinson - When at length, after an obstinate struggle, he yielded to the power of the empire, Civilis secured himself and his country by an honorable treaty.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - Whether the Governor of any other State [Pg 474] had preceded him in a more profitable or honorable appointment, has not yet been discovered.
— from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I - Whatever Bogdánich may be, anyway he is an honorable and brave old colonel!
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - I know very little of General Howard, but believe him to be a true, honorable man.
— from Memoirs of General William T. Sherman — Complete by William T. Sherman - It is right and honorable for us to love each other.
— from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself by Harriet A. Jacobs - It leads to spitting; it leads to coarse speech; it must lead to these things so long as it is honorable; comradeship must be in some degree ugly.
— from What's Wrong with the World by G. K. Chesterton - He considers it honorable not to pay his debts, unless they are gambling debts—that is, somewhat shady.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant