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."
preview | full record— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)
Date: 1706
"Ah, my Life's dear Guardian, methinks now you are here, my Heart has Warmth again, and active Motion which, lately like a worn-out Clock, had none."
preview | full record— D'Urfey, Thomas (1653?-1723)
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 ...
preview | full record— Cooper, Anthony Ashley, third earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713)
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."
preview | full record— Cooper, Anthony Ashley, third earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713)
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 ...
preview | full record— Cooper, Anthony Ashley, third earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713)
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."
preview | full record— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)
Date: w. c. 1709, 1711
"'Tis with our judgments as our watches, none / Go just alike, yet each believes his own."
preview | full record— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744)
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."
preview | full record— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)
Date: 1712, 1728
"Poor, Senseless Party Engines! Who are taught / To act by Mechanism, not by Thought, / Who speak by rote, and sell their venal Words, / To please Grandees, and smooth Intriguing Lords!"
preview | full record— Sewell, George (1690-1726)
Date: 1712
"See, how resistless Orators perswade, / Draw out their Forces, and the Heart invade: / Touch ev'ry Spring and Movement of the Soul, / This Appetite excite, and That controul."
preview | full record— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)