Date: 1691

"I say I've but one little tiney favour to beg, and then--and that is--that he'd maturely Weigh, Swallow, Chew the Cud, and soundly digest this following first Book, before he throw it out agen, for should he make too much hast, and too greedily read it over, as 'tis to be fear'd the pleasantness...

— Dunton, John (1659–1732)

Date: 1696

"This shall be the Banquet of my Mind, all Times, besides those Devoted to my Sighs, and Sadness!"

— Pix, Mary (c.1666-1720)

Date: 1705

"The Little Histories of this Kind have taken Place of Romances, whose Prodigious Number of Volumes were sufficient to tire and satiate such whose Heads were most fill'd with those Notions."

— Manley, Delarivier (c. 1670-1724)

Date: 1705

"The Little Histories of this Kind have taken Place of Romances, whose Prodigious Number of Volumes were sufficient to tire and satiate such whose Heads were most fill'd with those Notions."

— Manley, Delarivier (c. 1670-1724)

Date: 1723

"Thou'rt to my Mind so very good, / Its Consolation, Physick, Food."

— Barker, Jane (1675-1743)

Date: 1752

"Learning, he said, had the same Effect on the Mind, that strong Liquors have on the Constitution; both tending to eradicate all our natural Fire and Energy."

— Fielding, Henry (1707-1754)

Date: 1782

"Had they mingled in the world, fed high their fancy with hope, and looked forward with expectation of enjoyment; had they been courted by the great, and offered with profusion adulation for their abilities, yet, even when starving, been offered nothing else!"

— Burney [married name D'Arblay], Frances (1752-1840)

Date: 1788

"In their frequent conversation, she observed that the very name of Emmeline had the power of fascination; that he was never weary of hearing her praises; and that whenever he thought himself unobserved, his eyes were in pursuit of her; or fondly gazing on her face, he seemed to drink deep draugh...

— Smith, Charlotte (1749-1806)