Like Kafka, with whom he has more in common than usually recognised, Dodgson could never resolve himself to move to the next stage of his life: he never took holy orders, never rose in the college hierarchy, never married.
Jack accordingly resolves to himself to be rechristened "Ernest".
On page 44 there's a scene in which Simonides, who was famously ugly, recalls how, as a youth, he had resolved to kill himself: having climbed to the parapet of a temple, he looks up at the bright sky and realizes he's being foolish.
He married in 1785, but after his wife's sudden death four years later, he resolved to devote himself to the education of poor boys.
He resigned from his position in Bordeaux and resolved to devote himself to writing the essays that would bring him immortality.
The major influence on his thought at this time was that of Immanuel Kant, whose doctrine of the inherent moral worth of man harmonized with Fichte's character; and he resolved to devote himself to perfecting a true philosophy, the principles of which should be practical maxims.
He tried to become involved with communism for brief period but then resolved to devote himself to scientific research.
In 1821, Prescott abandoned the idea of a legal career because of the continued deterioration of his eyesight, and resolved to devote himself to literature.
A few years later, after his neighbor in London's Chelsea district added a flock of "demon fowl" to his yard, Carlyle resolved to defend himself against the clamor of roosters, organ grinders, the neighbor's piano, etc., by adding a floor to his house for a sound-proof study.
He had resolved to establish himself as a top-ranking pianist before promoting himself as a composer, though he continued to compose both original works and folksong settings.
