Date: 1705

"For tho' he had a Head as well qualified for Business as any Man Born, his Heart was all made up of Pleasure, which was the Loadstone govern'd all the Actions of his Life, which might have been as Glorious as the Riches of Albigion, and the entire Affection of the People cou'd make them."

— Manley, Delarivier (c. 1670-1724)

Date: 1710

"In that Particular I was sure my fair Agnes was exceeded by none; her Charms were faultless and peculiar, but her Mind was a Rock upon which my Resolution struck."

— Manley, Delarivier (c. 1670-1724)

Date: 1720

"Ah vile Heart, more obdurate and harder than Adamant! upon this cruel Anvil was forged the Chains that bound up my unlucky Destiny!"

— Manley, Delarivier (c. 1670-1724)

Date: 1759

"Their grief, however, like their joy, was transient; every thing floated in their mind unconnected with the past or future, so that one desire easily gave way to another, as a second stone cast into the water effaces and confounds the circles of the first."

— Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)