All 7 Uses of
rational
in
Sense and Sensibility
- The youthful infatuation of nineteen would naturally blind him to every thing but her beauty and good nature; but the four succeeding years—years, which if rationally spent, give such improvement to the understanding, must have opened his eyes to her defects of education, while the same period of time, spent on her side in inferior society and more frivolous pursuits, had perhaps robbed her of that simplicity which might once have given an interesting character to her beauty.†
Chpt 23
- Elinor agreed to it all, for she did not think he deserved the compliment of rational opposition.†
Chpt 36 *
- Marianne's ideas were still, at intervals, fixed incoherently on her mother, and whenever she mentioned her name, it gave a pang to the heart of poor Elinor, who, reproaching herself for having trifled with so many days of illness, and wretched for some immediate relief, fancied that all relief might soon be in vain, that every thing had been delayed too long, and pictured to herself her suffering mother arriving too late to see this darling child, or to see her rational.†
Chpt 43
- Her breath, her skin, her lips, all flattered Elinor with signs of amendment; and Marianne fixed her eyes on her with a rational, though languid, gaze.†
Chpt 43
- Elinor honoured her for a plan which originated so nobly as this; though smiling to see the same eager fancy which had been leading her to the extreme of languid indolence and selfish repining, now at work in introducing excess into a scheme of such rational employment and virtuous self-control.†
Chpt 46
- Edward was now fixed at the cottage at least for a week;—for whatever other claims might be made on him, it was impossible that less than a week should be given up to the enjoyment of Elinor's company, or suffice to say half that was to be said of the past, the present, and the future;—for though a very few hours spent in the hard labor of incessant talking will despatch more subjects than can really be in common between any two rational creatures, yet with lovers it is different.†
Chpt 49
- The secrecy with which everything had been carried on between them, was rationally treated as enormously heightening the crime, because, had any suspicion of it occurred to the others, proper measures would have been taken to prevent the marriage; and he called on Elinor to join with him in regretting that Lucy's engagement with Edward had not rather been fulfilled, than that she should thus be the means of spreading misery farther in the family.†
Chpt 49
Definition:
-
(rational as in: rational behavior) reasonablein various senses, including:
- "It's not rational to treat 2+2 as 5." -- logical as contrasted to illogical
- "I know you're upset, but please think about this in a rational manner." -- based on reason as contrasted to emotion
- "When I was 10-years-old, I wasn't very smart, but I was still rational." -- capable of using reason as contrasted to being insane or lacking the ability to reason
- "In matters of the heart, I trust my intuition more than my rational analysis." -- based on a logical analysis as contrasted to intuition, instinct, custom, tarot-card reading, or some other system of decision making