Date: 1741 [1740]; continued in 1741

A mother may "prepare the sweet Virgin Soil of [her childrens'] Minds to receive the Seeds of Virtue and Goodness so early, that as they grow up, one need only now a little Pruning, and now a little Watering, to make them the Ornaments and Delights of the Garden of this Life!

— Richardson, Samuel (bap. 1689, d. 1761)

Date: 1741 [1740]; continued in 1741

"Why, the Trees of Resolution, and the Shrubs of cautious Fear, whose intertwining Roots had contributed to support the frail Mound, being loosen'd from their Hold, they, and the Bank itself, will be seen floating on the Surface of the triumphant Waters."

— Richardson, Samuel (bap. 1689, d. 1761)

Date: 1752

"Love, on the contrary, sprouts usually up in the richest and noblest Minds; but there unless nicely watched, pruned, and cultivated, and carefully kept clear of those vicious Weeds which are too apt to surround it, it branches forth into Wildness and Disorder, produces nothing desirable, but ch...

— Fielding, Henry (1707-1754)

Date: 1752

"Ambition scarce ever produces any Evil, but when it reigns in cruel and savage Bosoms; and Avarice seldom flourishes at all but in the basest and poorest Soil."

— Fielding, Henry (1707-1754)

Date: 1752

"Love ... sprouts usually up in the richest and noblest minds; but there, unless nicely watched, pruned, and cultivated, and carefully kept clear of those vicious weed which are too apt to surround it, it branches forth into wildness and disorder, produces nothing desirable, but chokes up and kil...

— Fielding, Henry (1707-1754)

Date: 1752

"'The greatest Difficulty,' added the Gentleman, 'which Persons of your Turn of Mind meet with, is in finding proper Objects of their Goodness: For nothing sure can be more irksome to a generous Mind, than to discover, that it hath thrown away all its good Offices on a Soil that bears no other Fr...

— Fielding, Henry (1707-1754)

Date: 1754

"The gardens and lawn seem from the windows of this spacious house to be as boundless as the mind of the owner, and as free and open as his countenance"

— Richardson, Samuel (bap. 1689, d. 1761)

Date: 1761

"He talked of love like a philosopher, who thinks his mind superior to the passions; but, for my part, I am mistaken if he has not already felt a passion, which will prevent any other from taking deep root in his breast."

— Rousseau, Jean-Jacques (1712-1778); Kenrick, William (1729/30-1779)

Date: 1761

"Love has insinuated itself too far into your mind, for you ever to drive it thence. It has eaten its way, has penetrated into its inmoft recesses, like a corrosive menstruum, whose impressions you will never be able to efface, without deftroying at the same time all that virtuous sensibility you...

— Rousseau, Jean-Jacques (1712-1778); Kenrick, William (1729/30-1779)

Date: 1761

"Let us wait for the opening of reason; it is that which displays the character, and gives it its true form: it is by that also it is cultivated, and there is no such thing as education before the understanding is ripe for instruction."

— Rousseau, Jean-Jacques (1712-1778); Kenrick, William (1729/30-1779)