Literary notes about unknown (AI summary)
The word "unknown" in literature often functions as a bridge between the familiar and the mysterious, evoking a sense of intrigue and ambiguity across various contexts. It can describe unnamed characters, such as individuals whose identities remain elusive or shrouded in secrecy [1, 2], as well as refer to places and phenomena that lie beyond the realm of human understanding or established knowledge [3, 4, 5]. Additionally, "unknown" is used to emphasize the limits of current comprehension or to hint at hidden forces and unexplained origins—be they aspects of nature, historical events, or even metaphysical concepts [6, 7]. In this way, it enriches narrative ambiguity, inviting readers to explore and question what lies just beyond convention and certainty [8, 9].
- Yet the jury brought in the astounding verdict that deceased came to his death “by the hands of some person or persons unknown!”
— from Roughing It by Mark Twain - Outside the family circle, papa, I am glad to say, is entirely unknown.
— from The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People by Oscar Wilde - The site of Numistro appears to be unknown.
— from The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 1 (of 6) by the Elder Pliny - I cried, "we are about to launch out upon an unknown sea; and where, if I may ask, is the vessel to carry us?"
— from A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne - With their Andalusian horses they penetrated into an unknown country, where they perceived no beaten track.
— from Candide by Voltaire - To explain the unknown by the known is a logical procedure; to explain the known by the unknown is a form of theological lunacy.
— from The Necessity of Atheism by David Marshall Brooks - But phenomena are only representations of things which are utterly unknown in respect to what they are in themselves.
— from The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant - The shy, unknown youth found himself instantly something of a celebrity.
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - About the third watch, Hother, unknown to any man, went out to spy upon the enemy, anxiety about the impending peril having banished sleep.
— from The Danish History, Books I-IX by Grammaticus Saxo
