Literary notes about magnanimity (AI summary)
In literature, magnanimity is portrayed as a noble quality embodying generosity, forgiveness, and a refined sense of honor. Authors often set it against the backdrop of human frailty, contrasting its inherent greatness with moments of pettiness or strategic self-interest ([1], [2]), while simultaneously celebrating it as an ideal marker of character in both political and personal realms ([3], [4]). Philosophical and historical works extend its reach even further, presenting magnanimity as integral to ethical fortitude and the embodiment of a true, generous spirit ([5], [6]). Through such diverse portrayals—from subtle critiques to grand expressions of virtue—magnanimity remains a cornerstone concept that captures the aspirational and often complex nature of nobility in human behavior ([7], [8]).
- So argues retrospective Magnanimity: but Pusillanimity, present, prospective?
— from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle - So moves the incorruptible seagreen Robespierre; with cheap magnanimity he; and none dare be outdone by him.
— from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle - His brother, Thrasimund, was the greatest and most accomplished of the Vandal kings, whom he excelled in beauty, prudence, and magnanimity of soul.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - I do not anticipate a refusal, knowing the magnanimity of him with whom it rests.
— from Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy - The philosophical tranquillity may, indeed, be considered only as a branch of magnanimity.
— from An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals by David Hume - Magnanimity, ( μεγαλόπρεπεια ), one of the philosopher’s virtues, 6.
— from The Republic of Plato by Plato - She also discovered what Amy had done about the things in the morning, and considered her a model of magnanimity.
— from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - Her magnanimity provoked his tears: he wept wildly, kissing her supporting hands, and yet could not summon courage to speak out.
— from Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
