"The Body is but the Prison, or the Clog of the Mind; subjected to Punishments, Robberies, Diseases; but the Mind is Sacred, and Spiritual, and Liable to no Violence."

— L'Estrange, Sir Roger (1616-1704)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by Thomas Newcomb for Joseph Hindmarsh
Date
1682
Metaphor
"The Body is but the Prison, or the Clog of the Mind; subjected to Punishments, Robberies, Diseases; but the Mind is Sacred, and Spiritual, and Liable to no Violence."
Metaphor in Context
[...] Shall any Man think Banishment Grievous, when he may take such Company along with him? Nor is there any Banishment, but yields enough for our Necessities, and no Kingdom is sufficient for Superfluities. It is the Mind that makes us Rich in a Desart; and if the Body be but kept Alive, the Soul Enjoys all Spiritual Felicities in Abundance. What signifies the being Banish'd from one Spot of Ground to Another, to a Man that has his Thoughts Above, and can look Forward, and Backward, and where ever he pleases; and that where ever he is, has the same Matter to work upon? The Body is but the Prison, or the Clog of the Mind; subjected to Punishments, Robberies, Diseases; but the Mind is Sacred, and Spiritual, and Liable to no Violence. Is it that a Man shall want Garments, or Covering in Banishment? The Body is as easily Cloth'd, as Fed; and Nature has made nothing Hard that is Necessary. But if nothing will serve us, but Rich Embroideries, and Scarlet, 'tis none of Fortune's Fault that we are Poor, but our Own. Nay, suppose a Man should have All restor'd him back again that he has Lost; it will come to nothing, for he will want more after That, to satisfie his Desires, than he did before, to supply his Necessities. Insatiable Appetites are not so much a Thirst, as a Disease.
(pp. 274-5)
Provenance
Searching "mind" in Google Books
Citation
Text from Seneca's Morals by Way of Abstract. To which is added A Discourse under the Title of An After-Thought. By Sir Roger L'Estrange, Knt. 11th edition (London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1718). <Link to Google Books><Compare 1718 edition printed by Nicholson in ECCO>

See Seneca's Morals by Way of Abstract by R. L'Estrange (London: Printed by Thomas Newcomb for Joseph Hindmarsh, 1682). <Link to EEBO>

Printed in 1678 (part I only?), 1682 (3 parts), 1685 (3rd part), 1688 (4th edition), 1693 (5th edition), 1696, 1699 [all in EEBO], 1702 (8th edition), 1705 (9th edition), 1711 (10th edition), 1718 (11th edition). Into 16th edition by 1755. 26 entries in ECCO.
Date of Entry
09/20/2011

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.