Date: 1760-1761, 1762
"But of all the wonders of the east, the most useful, and I should fancy, the most pleasing, would be the looking-glass of Lao, which reflects the mind as well as the body."
preview | full record— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)
Date: 1760-1761, 1762
"So it was with the lady in question; she had never seen her own mind before, and was now shocked at its deformity."
preview | full record— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)
Date: 1760-1761, 1762
"Upon approaching the glass, I could readily perceive vanity, affectation, and some other ill-looking blots on her mind; wherefore by my advice she immediately set about mending."
preview | full record— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)
Date: 1760-1761, 1762
"Thus saying, she retired with a sullen satisfaction, resolved not to mend her faults, but to write a criticism on the mental reflector."
preview | full record— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)
Date: 1760-1761, 1762
"I must own, by this time I began myself to suspect the fidelity of my mirror; for as the ladies appeared at least to have the merit of rising early, since they were up at five, I was amazed to find nothing of this good quality pictured upon their minds in the reflection; I was resolved therefore...
preview | full record— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)
Date: 1760-1761, 1762
"Here it was that I exulted in my success; no blot, no stain, appeared on any part of the faithful mirror. As when the large, unwritten page presents its snowy spotless bosom to the writer's hand; so appeared the glass to my view."
preview | full record— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)
Date: 1760-1761, 1762
"Mr. Showman, cried she, approaching, I am told you has something to shew in that there sort of magic lanthorn, by which folks can see themselves on the inside; I protest, as my lord Beetle says, I am sure it will be vastly pretty, for I have never seen any thing like it before. But how; are we t...
preview | full record— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)
Date: 1790
"Indeed in the gross and complicated mass of human passions and concerns, the primitive rights of men undergo such a variety of refractions and reflections, that it becomes absurd to talk of them as if they continued in the simplicity of their original direction."
preview | full record— Burke, Edmund (1729-1797)
Date: November 19, 1793
"But with the assistance of my motto, I hope at once to elucidate the observation, brighten the mirror of fancy, and solve the fluctuation of doubt."
preview | full record— Boyd, Hugh (1746-1794)