Date: 1675, 1746

"The Ground needs no other midwifery in bringing forth Weeds, than only the neglect of the Husbandman's Hand to pluck them up; the Air needs no other Cause of Darkness, than the Absence of Sun; nor water of Coldness, than its Distance from the Fire, because these are the genuine Products of ...

— Westminster Assembly (1643-1652)

Date: 1691

"Thirdly, Let us hence duly learn to prize and value our Souls; is the Body such a rare Piece, what this is the Soul? the Body is but the Husk or Shell, the Soul is the Kernel; the Body is but the Cask, the Soul the precious Liquor contained in it; the Body is but the Cabinet; the Soul the Jewel;...

— Ray [formerly Wray], John (1627–1705)

Date: 1691

"I cannot conceive the true Cause hereof [that Men of Learning are uncouth in their discourse], unless it be, that as Plants are Choakt by over-much Moisture, and Lamps are Stifl'd with too much Oil; so are the Actions of the Mind overwhelm'd by over-abundance of Matter and Study."

— Blount, Thomas Pope, Sir (1649-1697)

Date: 1711

"These Spirits rais'd from Choler to the Brain, / Like those extracted from the basest Grain, / Impure and crude, produce unnatural Heat, / And an ignoble Flame of Life create."

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)

Date: 1712

"The Crimson Jets rais'd with Elastic Force / Swift to the Seats of Sense pursue their Course; / Arterial Streams thro' the soft Brain diffuse, / And water all its Fields with vital Dews."

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)

Date: 1718 [first published 1684-1694]

"For sottish ease, and a life wholly sedentary and given up to Idleness, spoils and debilitates, not only the Body but the Soul too: And as close Waters shadowed over by bordering Trees, and stagnated in default of Springs, so supply current and motion to them become foul and corrupt; so methinks...

— Plutarch (c. 46-120)

Date: 1728

"When Love in an impetuous Torrent flows, / How vainly Reason would its Force oppose; / Hurl'd down the Stream, like Flowers before the Wind, / She leaves to Love, the Empire of the Mind."

— Fielding, Henry (1707-1754)

Date: 1736

"Infuse a little Wit into the Scull, / Which never fails to make a mighty Fool; / Two Drams of Faith; a Tun of Doubting next; / Let all be with the Dregs of Reason mixt: / When, in his Mind, these jarring Seeds are sown, / He'll censure all Things, but approve of none."

— Duck, Stephen (1705-1756)

Date: 1741 [1740]; continued in 1741

"Why, the Trees of Resolution, and the Shrubs of cautious Fear, whose intertwining Roots had contributed to support the frail Mound, being loosen'd from their Hold, they, and the Bank itself, will be seen floating on the Surface of the triumphant Waters."

— Richardson, Samuel (bap. 1689, d. 1761)

Date: Saturday, November 3, 1750

"Some of these instructors of mankind have not contented themselves with checking the overflows of passion, and lopping the exuberance of desire, but have attempted to destroy the root as well as the branches; and not only to confine the mind within bounds, but to smooth it for ever by a dead calm."

— Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)