Definition of "contraries"

Things might go by contraries, she thought.

1895, F. Marion Crawford, Taquisara‎

Ambition, luxury, drunkenness, avarice, and lust have no contraries, for temperance, sobriety, and chastity are not emotions (passive states), but denote the power of the soul by which the former are moderated, and which is discussed later under the name fortitudo.

1893, Richard Falckenberg, History Of Modern Philosophy‎

Thus we never see the true state of our condition till it is illustrated to us by its contraries, nor know how to value what we enjoy, but by the want of it.

1812, Daniel Defoe, The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe Of York, Mariner, Vol. 1‎