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Date: 1701, 1704

"The application of our Thoughts to other Subjects is like looking upon the Rays of the Sun as it shines to us from a Wall, or upon the Image of it as it returns from a Watry Mirrour, but this is looking up directly against the Fons veri lucidus, the bright Source of Intellectual Light a...

— Norris, John (1657-1712)

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Date: 1709, 1714

"They may perhaps be Monsters, and not Divinitys, or Sacred Truths, which are kept thus choicely, in some dark Corner of our Minds: The Specters may impose on us, whilst we refuse to turn 'em every way, and view their Shapes and Complexions in every light."

— Cooper, Anthony Ashley, third earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713)

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Date: From Thursd. April 6. to Saturd. April 8. 1710

"It [the light of Elysium] pierces the thickest Bodies, in the same Manner as the Sun Beams pass through Chrystal: It strengthens the Sight instead of dazzling it; and nourishes in the most inward Recesses of the Mind, a perpetual Serenity that is not to be express'd."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

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Date: 1715

"Thy Virtues flash, / They break at once on my astonish'd Soul; / As if the Curtains of the Dark were drawn, / To let in Day at Midnight."

— Rowe, Nicholas (1674-1718)

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Date: 1717, 1736

"Dim lights of life that burn a length of years, / Useless, unseen, as lamps in sepulchres"

— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744)

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Date: 1719, 1720

"For, says he, PUNS are like so many Torch-Lights in the Head, that give the Soul a very distinct View of those Images, which she before seemed to groap after as if she had been imprisoned in a Dungeon."

— Sheridan, Thomas (1687-1738)

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Date: w 1710, 1720

"Whilst like the Lamp's last Flame, their trembling Souls / Are on the Wing to leave their mortal Goals."

— Ramsay, Allan (1684-1758)

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Date: Friday, July 31, 1724

"The true Use of Titles, is, That they may serve, as shining Lights, to lay open and illustrate, the spacious Chambers of a Mind well-furnished."

— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)

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Date: Friday, July 31, 1724

"But, to a close, and sordid, Soul, they are like Torches, which we carry down, to illuminate a sickly Dungeon: Where they expose, but the more disgracefully, the narrow Cells, bare Walls; and Dirtiness."

— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)

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Date: 1734, 1753

"Were it a crime in flashing souls, to rise, / And strike each other thro' the meeting eyes; / Those op'ning windows had not let in light, / Nor stream'd ideas out, to voice the sight."

— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)

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