Definition of "sternness" [stern•ness]

• The state or quality of being stern. (noun)
• The result or product of being stern. (noun)

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• "a deep impression on the beholder; there must be a great force of will and withholding of resources, giving a sense of depth below depth, which we call sternness; or else there must be that purity, flowing as from an inexhaustible fountain through every lineament, which drives far off or converts all baser natures."
• "He praised her, therefore, for qualities he wished her to possess, encouraged her to reject general opinions by admiring as the symptoms of a superior understanding, the convenient morality upon which she had occasionally acted; and, calling sternness justice, extolled that for strength of mind, which was only callous insensibility."
• "A poor unhappy fool that can not face life's sternness, that is crying out to escape his duty!"