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Date: 1701

"Man is a Creature of so mixed a Composure, and of a Frame so inconsistent and different from Itself, that it easily speaks his Affinity to the highest and meanest Beings; that is to say, he is made of Body and Soul, he is at once an Engine and an Engineer."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

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Date: 1709, 1714

"'Tis hard, that in the Plan or Description of this Clock-work, no Wheel or Ballance shou'd be allow'd on the side of the better and more enlarg'd Affections; that nothing shou'd be understood to be done in Kindness or Generosity; nothing in pure good-Nature or Friendship , or thro any social or ...

— Cooper, Anthony Ashley, third earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713)

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Date: 1709, 1714

"They wou'd new frame the Human Heart; and have a mighty Fancy to reduce all its Motions, Ballances and Weights, to that one Principle and Foundation of a cool and deliberate Selfishness."

— Cooper, Anthony Ashley, third earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713)

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Date: 1710, 1714

"Shou'd a Philosopher, after the same manner [as a visitor to a Watchmaker's Shop], employing himself in the Study of human Nature, discover only, what Effects each Passion wrought upon the Body; what change of Aspect or Feature they produc'd; and in what different manner they affected the Limbs ...

— Cooper, Anthony Ashley, third earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713)

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Date: From Thursday July 13. to Saturday July 15. 1710

"Her Air discovered her Body a meer Machine of her Mind, and not that her Thoughts were employed in studying Graces and Attractions for her Person."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

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Date: Thursday, July 12, 1711

"I consider the Body as a System of Tubes and Glands, or to use a more Rustick Phrase, a Bundle of Pipes and Strainers, fitted to one another after so wonderful a Manner as to make a proper Engine for the Soul to work with."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

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Date: September 10, 1726

"First then I lay down, as an undeniable Truth, that we have in common with other Animals a certain Machine of a curious and exquisite Workmanship, the principal Springs whereof are Imagination and Memory."

— Arbuckle, James (d. 1742)

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Date: September 10, 1726

"To explain this, we must consider that the first Image which an outward Object imprints on our Brain is very slight; it resembles a thin Vapour which dwindles into nothing, without leaving the least track after it. But if the same Object successively offers itself several times, the Image it occ...

— Arbuckle, James (d. 1742)

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Date: September 17, 1726

"I have now, Sir, laid open to you the Faculties of the Mind, and shewn that those of most Men consist but in a mechanical Operation, as well as those of other Animals."

— Arbuckle, James (d. 1742)

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Date: 1759

"The wheels of the watch are all admirably adjusted to the end for which it was made, the pointing of the hour. All their various motions conspire in the nicest manner to produce this effect. If they were endowed with a desire and intention to produce it, they could not do it better. Yet we never...

— Smith, Adam (1723-1790)

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The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.