work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
4762,Mind's Eye,"Reading Wasserman, Earl R. ""The Inherent Values of Eighteenth-Century Personification."" PMLA 65.4 (1950): 435-63. p. 452.",2006-06-01 00:00:00 UTC,"Truth is an amiable and delightful Object to the Eye of the Mind, but it is not easily apprehended by the Bulk of Mankind; especially if it be remote from common Observation, or abstracted from sensible Experience. It requires strict Attention as well as an acute Perception to take it up in its pure intellectual Appearance, and the Memory must be tenacious to retain it long in that simple Form. 'Tis a hard matter to recover ... Minds from the sensible Circle, in which they are accustomed to go round, to turn their mental Powers in upon themselves, and give them a just Idea of Objects purely Intellectual. To aid their Conceptions therefore, as well as to fix their Attention, Truths they are unacquainted with must be explained to them, and pictured as it were to their Fancies, by those they know; and what is Sensible must, by some Similitude or Analogy, represent what is Intellectual. The Ideas must be cloathed in a bodily Form, to make it visible and palpable to the gross Understanding.
(p. 366)",2011-10-10,12601,"","""Truth is an amiable and delightful Object to the Eye of the Mind, but it is not easily apprehended by the Bulk of Mankind; especially if it be remote from common Observation, or abstracted from sensible Experience.""",Eye,2011-10-10 15:55:55 UTC,""
4793,"",Searching in HDIS,2004-04-27 00:00:00 UTC,"[...] --He has seen a little, and but a little service, and yet if you will take his word for it, there has not been a great action performed in the field since the revolution, in which he was not principally concerned. When a story is told of any great general, he immediately matches it with one of himself, though he is often unhappy in his invention, and commits such gross blunders in the detail, that every body is in pain for him.--Cæsar, Pompey, and Alexander the Great are continually in his mouth; and as he reads a good deal without any judgment to digest it, his ideas are confused, and his harrangues as unintelligible as infinite; for, once he begins, there is no chance of his leaving off speaking, while one person remains to yield attention; therefore the only expedient I know, of putting a stop to his loquacity, is to lay hold of some incongruity he has uttered, and demand an explanation; or ask the meaning of some difficult term that he knows by name only, this will effectually put him to silence, if not to flight, as it happened when I enquired about an epaulement. [...]",,12745,•Excised from an enormous paragraph.,"""Cæsar, Pompey, and Alexander the Great are continually in his mouth; and as he reads a good deal without any judgment to digest it, his ideas are confused, and his harrangues as unintelligible as infinite.""","",2013-10-25 18:08:51 UTC,""
4803,"",Reading,2005-10-05 00:00:00 UTC,"Man is a reasonable being; and as such, receives from science his proper food and nourishment: But so narrow are the bounds of human understanding, that little satisfaction can be hoped for in this particular, either from the extent or security of his acquisitions. Man is a sociable, no less than a reasonable being: But neither can he always enjoy company agreeable and amusing, or preserve the proper relish for them. Man is also an active being; and from that disposition, as well as from the various necessities of human life, must submit to business and occupation: But the mind requires some relaxation, and cannot always support its bent to care and industry. It seems, then, that nature has pointed out a mixed kind of life as most suitable to human race, and secretly admonished them to allow none of these biasses to draw too much, so as to incapacitate them for other occupations and entertainments. Indulge your passion for science, says she, but let your science be human, and such as may have a direct reference to action and society. Abstruse thought and profound researches I prohibit, and will severely punish, by the pensive melancholy which they introduce, by the endless uncertainty in which they involve you, and by the cold reception which your pretended discoveries shall meet with, when communicated. Be a philosopher; but, amidst all your philosophy, be still a man.
(p. 8-9)",,12816,"","""Man is a reasonable being; and as such, receives from science his proper food and nourishment.""","",2011-03-05 19:03:08 UTC,Section I.
5805,"",Searching HDIS (Poetry),2004-06-15 00:00:00 UTC,"O thou! whose spirit warms my song,
With energy divinely strong,
Erect his soul, confirm his breast,
And let him know the sweets of rest;
Till ev'ry human pain and care,
All that may be, and all that are,
But false imagin'd ills appear
Beneath our hope, our grief, or fear.
And, if I right invoke thy aid,
By thee be all my woes allay'd;
With scorn instruct me to defy
Imposing fear, and lawless joy;
To struggle thro' this scene of strife,
The pains of death, the pangs of life,
With constant brow to meet my fate,
And meet still more, Euanthe's hate.
And, when some swain her charms shall claim,
Who feels not half my gen'rous flame,
Whose cares her angel-voice beguiles,
On whom she bends her heav'nly smiles;
For whom she weeps, for whom she glows,
On whom her treasur'd soul bestows;
When perfect mutual joy they share,
Ah! joy enhanc'd by my despair!
Mix beings in each flaming kiss,
And blest, still rise to higher bliss:
Then, then, exert thy utmost pow'r,
And teach me Being to endure;
Lest reason from the helm should start,
And lawless fury rule my heart;
Lest madness all my soul subdue,
To ask her Maker, What dost thou?
Yet, could'st thou in that dreadful hour,
On my rack'd soul all Lethe pour,
Or fan me with the gelid breeze,
That chains in ice th' indignant seas;
Or wrap my heart in tenfold steel,
I still am man, and still must feel.",,15476,•REVISIT. I am not sure when this poem was originally published
,"""Yet, could'st thou in that dreadful hour, / On my rack'd soul all Lethe pour, / Or fan me with the gelid breeze, / That chains in ice th' indignant seas.""","",2013-11-27 04:51:04 UTC,""
5495,"","Reading. Found again reading Adam Potkay, The Passion for Happiness: Samuel Johnson and David Hume (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2000), 12.",2010-06-03 16:48:00 UTC,"But of this resource nature has, in a great measure, deprived us. The fabric and constitution of our mind no more depends on our choice, than that of our body. The generality of men have not even the smallest notion, that any alteration in this respect can ever be desirable. As a stream necessarily follows the several inclinations of the ground, on which it runs; so are the ignorant and thoughtless part of mankind actuated by their natural propensities. Such are effectually excluded from all pretensions to philosophy, and the medicine of the mind, so much boasted. But even upon the wise and thoughtful, nature has a prodigious influence; nor is it always in a man's power, by the utmost art and industry, to correct his temper, and attain that virtuous character, to which he aspires. The empire of philosophy extends over a few; and with regard to these too, her authority is very weak and limited. Men may well be sensible of the value of virtue, and may desire to attain it; but it is not always certain, that they will be successful in their wishes.
(Liberty Fund pp. 168-9)",,17835,"","""Such are effectually excluded from all pretensions to philosophy, and the medicine of the mind, so much boasted.""","",2018-04-16 15:55:33 UTC,""
6797,"",Reading,2011-02-20 21:55:01 UTC,"And can vigorous industry give pleasure to the pursuit even of the most worthless prey, which frequently escapes our toils? And cannot the same industry render the cultivating of our mind, the moderating of our passions, the enlightening of our reason, an agreeable occupation; while we are every day sensible of our progress, and behold our inward features and countenance brightening incessantly with new charms? Begin by curing yourself of this lethargic indolence; the task is not difficult: You need but taste the sweets of honest labour. Proceed to learn the just value of every pursuit; long study is not requisite: Compare, though but for once, the mind to the body, virtue to fortune, and glory to pleasure. You will then perceive the advantages of industry: You will then be sensible what are the proper objects of your industry.
(pp. 149-50)",,18147,"","""Proceed to learn the just value of every pursuit; long study is not requisite: Compare, though but for once, the mind to the body, virtue to fortune, and glory to pleasure.""","",2011-02-20 21:55:01 UTC,""
6797,"",Reading,2011-02-20 21:57:18 UTC,"In vain do you seek repose from beds of roses: In vain do you hope for enjoyment from the most delicious wines and fruits. Your indolence itself becomes a fatigue: Your pleasure itself creates disgust. The mind, unexercised, finds every delight insipid and loathsome; and ere yet the body, full of noxious humours, feels the torment of its multiplied diseases, your nobler part is sensible of the invading poison, and seeks in vain to relieve its anxiety by new pleasures, which still augment the fatal malady.
(p. 150)",,18148,"","""The mind, unexercised, finds every delight insipid and loathsome; and ere yet the body, full of noxious humours, feels the torment of its multiplied diseases, your nobler part is sensible of the invading poison, and seeks in vain to relieve its anxiety by new pleasures, which still augment the fatal malady.""","",2011-02-20 21:57:18 UTC,""
7480,"",Reading,2013-06-20 20:10:58 UTC,"Thus pass the temperate Hours; but when the Sun
Shades from his Noon-day Throne the scattering clouds,
Even shooting listless Langour through the Deeps;
Then seek the bank where flowering Elders croud,
Where scatter'd wild the Lily of the Vale
Its balmy Essence breathes, where Cowslips hang
The dewy Head, where purple Violets lurk,
With all the lowly Children of the Shade:
Or lie reclin'd beneath yon spreading Ash,
Hung o'er the Steep; whence, borne on liquid Wing,
The sounding Culver shoots; or where the Hawk,
High, in the beetling Cliff, his Airy builds.
There let the classic Page thy fancy lead
Thro rural Scenes; such as the Mantuan Swain
Paints in the matchless Harmony of Song.
Or catch thyself the Landskip, gliding swift
Athwart Imagination's vivid Eye:
Or by the vocal Woods and Waters lull'd,
And lost in lonely Musing, in the Dream,
Confus'd, of careless Solitude, where mix
Ten thousand wandering Images of Things;
Soothe every Gust of Passion into Peace;
All but the Swellings of the soften'd Heart,
That waken, not disturb, the tranquil Mind.
(p. 22, ll. 441-464)",,21066,"","""There let the classic Page thy fancy lead / Thro rural Scenes; such as the Mantuan Swain / Paints in the matchless Harmony of Song. / Or catch thyself the Landskip, gliding swift / Athwart Imagination's vivid Eye.""",Eye,2013-06-20 20:10:58 UTC,""
7490,"",C-H Lion,2013-06-28 14:55:34 UTC,"SIFFREDI, alone.
The Prospect lowrs around. I found the King,
Tho' calm'd a little, with subsiding Tempest,
As suits his generous Nature, yet in Love
Abated nought, most ardent in his Purpose;
Inexorably fix'd, whate'er the Risque,
To claim my Daughter, and dissolve this Marriage--
I have embark'd, upon a perillous Sea,
A mighty Treasure. Here, the rapid Youth
Th' impetuous Passions of a Lover-King
Check my bold Course; and there, the jealous Pride
Th'impatient Honour of a haughty Lord,
Of the first Rank, in Interest and Dependants
Near equal to the King, forbid Retreat.
My Honour too, the same unchang'd Conviction,
That these my Measures were, and still remain
Of absolute Necessity, to save
The Land from Civil Fury, urge me on.
But how proceed?--I only faster rush
Upon the desperate Evils I would shun.
Whate'er the Motive be, Deceit, I fear,
And harsh unnatural Force are not the Means
Of Publick Welfare or of Private Bliss--
Bear Witness, Heaven! Thou Mind-inspecting Eye!
My Breast is pure. I have preferr'd my Duty,
The Good and Safety of my Fellow-Subjects,
To all those Views that fire the selfish Race
Of Men, and mix them in eternal Broils.
(V.i, 1-27)",,21255,"","""Bear Witness, Heaven! Thou Mind-inspecting Eye! / My Breast is pure.""",Eye,2013-06-28 14:55:34 UTC,"Act V, scene i"
4611,"","Reading John Richetti's Philosophical Writing: Locke, Berkeley, Hume (Cambridge, MA; London, England: Harvard UP, 1983): 190.",2013-10-12 02:18:43 UTC,"The same system may help us to form a just notion of the happiness, as well as of the dignity of virtue, and may interest every principle of our nature in the embracing and cherishing that noble quality. Who indeed does not feel an accession of alacrity in his pursuits of knowledge and ability of every kind, when he considers that, besides the advantage which immediately result from these acquisitions, they also give him a new lustre in the eyes of mankind, and are universally attended with esteem and approbation? And who can think any advantages of fortune a sufficient compensation for the least breach of the social virtues, when he considers that not only his character with regard to others, but also his peace and inward satisfaction entirely depend upon his strict observance of them; and that a mind will never be able to bear its own survey, that has been wanting in its part to mankind and society? But I forbear insisting on this subject. Such reflections require a work apart, very different from the genius of the present. The anatomist ought never to emulate the painter; nor in his accurate dissections and portraitures of the smaller parts of the human body, pretend to give his figures any graceful and engaging attitude or expression. There is even something hideous, or at least minute, in the views of things which he presents; and it is necessary the objects should be set more at a distance, and be more covered up from sight, to make them engaging to the eye and imagination. An anatomist, however, is admirably fitted to give advice to a painter; and it is even impracticable to excel in the latter art without the assistance of the former. We must have an exact knowledge of the parts, their situation and connexion, before we can design with any elegance or correctness. And thus the most abstract speculations concerning human nature, however cold and unentertaining, become subservient to practical morality; and may render this latter science more correct in its precepts, and more persuasive in its exhortations.
(III.iii.6)",2011-03-06,22933,"Reassigned to 1740 printing. Record created on 2011-03-06 19:19:56 UTC
Record last updated on 2011-03-06 19:19:56 UTC
",""The anatomist ought never to emulate the painter; nor in his accurate dissections and portraitures of the smaller parts of the human body, pretend to give his figures any graceful and engaging attitude or expression. There is even something hideous, or at least minute, in the views of things which he presents; and it is necessary the objects should be set more at a distance, and be more covered up from sight, to make them engaging to the eye and imagination. An anatomist, however, is admirably fitted to give advice to a painter; and it is even impracticable to excel in the latter art without the assistance of the former.""","",2013-10-12 02:18:43 UTC,"Book III, Part 3, Section 6"