Literary notes about tacit (AI summary)
The term "tacit" is frequently used in literature to indicate an unspoken understanding or an implicit condition that shapes relationships and events without being directly declared. In historical and political discourse, as observed in works such as those by Gibbon ([1], [2], [3], [4]), it signifies mutual recognition or consent that operates beneath the surface of formal agreements. In novels, authors employ "tacit" to capture the subtle dynamics of human interaction—a quiet affront or a hidden engagement, as seen in the nuanced portrayals by Gaskell ([5]), Austen ([6]), and Hardy ([7]). Philosophical and theoretical texts also use the word to describe inherent, unvoiced assumptions that inform principles of governance or social contracts, as illustrated by Clausewitz ([8]) and Locke ([9]).
- Note 24 ( return ) [ De principiis juris, et quibus modis ad hanc multitudinem infinitam ac varietatem legum perventum sit altius disseram, (Tacit.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - A Piso was deemed worthy of the throne by Augustus, (Tacit.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - ] Note 68 ( return ) [ See an instance of this custom, Tacit.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - The kingdoms of Armenia and Iberia were permitted, by the mutual, though tacit consent of both empires, to resume their doubtful neutrality.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - Edith was in the mood to think that any pleasure enjoyed away from her was a tacit affront, or at best a proof of indifference.
— from North and South by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell - To his tacit engagement with Miss de Bourgh?
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - In the tacit agreement of husband and wife to keep their estrangement a secret they behaved as would have been ordinary.
— from Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy - Truly it can take place only under the tacit condition that the adversary does no better.
— from On War by Carl von Clausewitz - Thus it was easy, and almost natural for children, by a tacit, and scarce avoidable consent, to make way for the father's authority and government.
— from Second Treatise of Government by John Locke
