"For before the Vessel be seasoned with one kind of Liquor, it is equally capable of all, and so the Wax is indifferent to any Impression, before it is moulded and determined by a particular Seal: If the Mind be a rasa Tabula, as Aristotle would have it, then this White Paper may best be inriched with good Inscriptions, before it be soiled or blotted with Evil"
— Hartcliffe, John (1651/2-1712)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Hooke
Date
1722
Metaphor
"For before the Vessel be seasoned with one kind of Liquor, it is equally capable of all, and so the Wax is indifferent to any Impression, before it is moulded and determined by a particular Seal: If the Mind be a rasa Tabula, as Aristotle would have it, then this White Paper may best be inriched with good Inscriptions, before it be soiled or blotted with Evil"
Metaphor in Context
For before the Vessel be seasoned with one kind of Liquor, it is equally capable of all, and so the Wax is indifferent to any Impression, before it is moulded and determined by a particular Seal: If the Mind be a rasa Tabula, as Aristotle would have it, then this White Paper may best be inriched with good Inscriptions, before it be soiled or blotted with Evil: Or if there be any innate, connatural Notions, which the Platonists affirm, it is best then to awaken them, before evil Customs of Life deaden their Vigour; as it happens to the Body from an Obstruction in the Nerves: For doubtless, all evil is a kind of Intellectual Opium, which casts the Faculties of the Mind (as I may so say) into a Moral Apoplexy; and so, according to the Opinion of one Philosopher, blots the White Paper; according to another, it is destructive of the very first Principles in nature: Whereas he, who lays his Foundation upon the Principles of Virtue, shall direct the Course of his Life with that Uniformity, as will bear him up under all Accidents, he can be exposed to; he will be guided by such Rules, as he never needs change; but his whole Life will be blameless, his Actions well weigh'd, his Words discreet, his thoughts regular, and in all Things shall he live according to the utmost Perfection Human nature is capable of.
(p. 23)
(p. 23)
Provenance
Searching "tabula rasa" in ECCO
Citation
Only 1 entry in ESTC (1722).
Text from A Compleat Treatise of Moral and Intellectual Virtues: Wherein Their Nature Is Fully Explained, and Their Usefulness Proved. 2nd ed. corrected (London: Printed for J. Hooke, 1722).
Text from A Compleat Treatise of Moral and Intellectual Virtues: Wherein Their Nature Is Fully Explained, and Their Usefulness Proved. 2nd ed. corrected (London: Printed for J. Hooke, 1722).
Theme
Blank Slate
Date of Entry
10/09/2006
