Date: 1690, 1694, 1695, 1700, 1706

"For, though he that contemplates the Operations of his Mind, cannot but have plain and clear Ideas of them; yet unless he turn his Thoughts that way, and considers them attentively, he will no more have clear and distinct Ideas of all the Operations of his Mind, and all that may be observed ther...

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

Date: 1690, 1694, 1695, 1700, 1706

"By which way one may prove any thing, and it is but supposing that all watches, whilst the balance beats, think; and it is sufficiently proved, and past doubt, that my watch thought all last night."

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

Date: 1691

"Thirdly, Let us hence duly learn to prize and value our Souls; is the Body such a rare Piece, what this is the Soul? the Body is but the Husk or Shell, the Soul is the Kernel; the Body is but the Cask, the Soul the precious Liquor contained in it; the Body is but the Cabinet; the Soul the Jewel;...

— Ray [formerly Wray], John (1627–1705)

Date: 1694, 1708

"The artful spring, like the diffusive soul, / Informs the machine, and directs the whole"

— Yalden, Thomas (1670-1736)

Date: 1696

"Imagine two clocks or watches which agree perfectly ... Put now the soul and the body in place of these two clocks; their accordance may be brought about by one of these three ways."

— Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm (1646-1716)

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)

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."

— 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 ...

— 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."

— 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 ...

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