Literary notes about sober (AI summary)
Literary authors deploy the word "sober" in multifaceted ways that extend well beyond its denotation of not being intoxicated. In some works it signifies a state of temperance and rationality, as characters maintain clarity of mind or are urged to do so even in challenging circumstances ([1], [2], [3]), while in others it underscores a serious, austere quality in demeanor or attire ([4], [5]). "Sober" also appears as a marker of moral rectitude or thoughtful reflection—hinting at both the virtuous steadiness of an individual and a broader, sometimes ironic, commentary on society's values ([6], [7], [8]). Whether used to characterize the restrained behavior of a general, the measured approach to life, or even the somber tone of a narrative, its versatility enriches the text by layering meaning, inviting readers to consider the interplay between moderation and human folly ([9], [10]).
- And on Monday morning, weary, he began the new week’s work, but he had kept sober.
— from Martin Eden by Jack London - He was suddenly drunk, although till that moment he had been quite sober, he remembered that.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - "How can I, when the mere idea of you, married and settled, is so irresistibly funny that I can't keep sober!"
— from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - Do your hair the pretty way, and put the pink rose in your bonnet; it's becoming, and you look too sober in your plain suit.
— from Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Louisa May Alcott - I started much more naturally then, to find myself confronted by a man in a sober gray dress.
— from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - Present pleasure, or present power, carry before it these sober convictions; and it is for the day, not for life, that man bargains with happiness.
— from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft - Indeed, indeed, Repentance oft before I swore—but was I sober when I swore?
— from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam by Omar Khayyam - “To my thinking,” he revived at once, seeming to grow sober the instant he touched on his favorite topic.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - But let us, who are of the day, be sober, having on the breast plate of faith and charity and, for a helmet, the hope of salvation.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - Sober well-to-do men don't like such pretty wives.
— from Adam Bede by George Eliot
