Date: 1690, 1694, 1695, 1700, 1706

"A Man on the Rack, is not at liberty to lay by the Idea of pain, and divert himself with other Contemplations: And sometimes a boisterous Passion hurries our Thoughts, as a Hurricane does our Bodies, without leaving us the liberty of thinking on other things, which we would rather chuse."

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

Date: 1690, 1694, 1695, 1700, 1706

"At least they interpose themselves so much between our understandings and the truth which it would contemplate and apprehend, that like the medium through which visible objects pass, their obscurity and disorder do not seldom cast a mist before our eyes, and impose upon our understandings."

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

Date: 1691

"And in a diversity of things, as in a mist, the Mind is apt to lose it self."

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

Date: 1694

"But Anger once let loose, quarrels with every thing, even a Spot falling upon the Angry Person's Cloaths, though but of Rain, by the common Courses of Nature is a sufficient subject for it to insist upon, till a Tempest rises in the Mind, and Heaven is cavell'd withal for not restraining the Dro...

— Dunton, John (1659–1732)

Date: January 25, 1698/9; 1708

"But the Truth is, my Thoughts never look towards Dublin now, without casting such a Cloud upon my Mind, and laying such a Load of fresh Sorrow on me for the Loss of my dear Friend, your Brother, that I cannot without Displeasure turn them that Way; and when I do it I find my self very unfit for ...

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

Date: Saturday, May 12, 1711

"The Thoughts will be rising of themselves from time to time, tho' we give them no Encouragement; as the Tossings and Fluctuations of the Sea continue several Hours after the Winds are laid."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: Tuesday, January 22, 1712

"Upon examining this Liquor [in the pericaridum of the coquet], we found that it had in it all the Qualities of that Spirit which is made use of in the Thermometer, to shew the Change of Weather."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: Saturday, May 17, 1712

"Mirth is like a Flash of Lightning, that breaks thro a Gloom of Clouds, and glitters for a Moment; Chearfulness keeps up a kind of Day-light in the Mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual Serenity."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: January 2, 1769

"Every seminary of learning may be said to be surrounded with an atmosphere of floating knowledge, where every mind may gather somewhat congenial to its own original conceptions."

— Reynolds, Joshua (1723-1792)

Date: 1782

"[A] sultry calm fails not to produce a storm, which dissipates the noxious vapours, and restores a purer air; the fiercest tempest, exhausted by its own violence, at length subsides; and an intense sun-shine, whilst it parches up the thirsty earth, exhales clouds, which quickly water it with ref...

— Jenyns, Soame (1704-1787)