Literary notes about working (AI summary)
The term “working” in literature is multifaceted, functioning both as a descriptor of physical labor and as a dynamic metaphor for processes at work, whether mechanical, social, or spiritual. In some texts it refers to the literal act of labor, as seen when characters discuss long hours at work or craftsmanship (for example, [1] and [2]), while in other instances it captures the continuous, underlying force behind events, ideas, or even divine activity—as in the “working of the Holy Spirit” ([3]) or the “working” of old laws and customs ([4]). Additionally, the word seamlessly enters conversational dialogue, indicating actions or states such as someone “working late” ([5]) or engaging in collaborative efforts ([6]), and even extends to abstract concepts like a “working knowledge” ([7]). Through such varied applications, “working” conveys both the tangible realities of everyday activity and the unseen, persistent energies that drive broader changes in society and nature.
- Thirty dollars a year for working from seven in the morning until ten at night!
— from Pushing to the Front by Orison Swett Marden - Women working in tailor-shops are paid one-third as much as men.
— from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I - The atonement in Jesus' blood makes such a change judicially possible and the working of the Holy Spirit makes it emotionally satisfying.
— from The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer - That was the working of the old Anglo-Saxon law, and it was a great many centuries before the notion of law changed from that in their minds.
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. Burgess and Robert Ezra Park - "Why are you working so late?"
— from The Trial by Franz Kafka - "He gets everybody working together.
— from Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life by Sherwood Anderson - 6. Have a working knowledge of farm machinery, haymaking, reaping, loading, and stacking.
— from Boy Scouts Handbook by Boy Scouts of America
