Date: 1765

"Thro' rooted vice my spirits fail, / Which o'er my heart an empire wins, / O let thy mercy countervail / To cover all our sins."

— Smart, Christopher (1722-1771)

Date: 1765

"Be ye not like to horse or mule, / That are not bless'd with reason's rule."

— Smart, Christopher (1722-1771)

Date: 1766

"Each of these words, implies, resistance; but, that of 'conquer', refers to victory over enemies; and is, generally, used in the literal sense: that of 'subdue', is more applicable to our passions; being, oftener, used in a figurative; and means, a bringing under subjection: that of 'overcome', ...

— Trusler, John (1735-1820)

Date: 1766

Love "leaves us not the liberty of choice; it commands in the beginning, as a master, and, reigns, afterwards, as a tyrant, till we are accustomed to its chains, by length of time; or, till they are broken by the efforts of powerful reason, or, the caprice of continued vexation."

— Trusler, John (1735-1820)

Date: 1766

"In 'love', it is the heart, which, principally, tastes the pleasure; the mind, making itself a slave, without any regard; and, the satisfaction of the senses, contributing less to the sweet enjoyment, than a certain contentedness of soul, which produces the charming idea, of being in the posses...

— Trusler, John (1735-1820)

Date: 1766, 1808

"Nature, my friend, profuse in vain, / May every gift impart; / If unimprov'd, they ne'er can gain / An empire o'er the heart."

— Anstey, Christopher (1724-1805)

Date: 1767, 1784

"But if foul Passion, or distemper'd Pride, / Impede its search, or Phrenzy seize the brain, / Then Ignorance a gloomy darkness spreads, / Or Superstition, with mishapen forms, / Erects its savage empire in the mind."

— Jago, Richard (1715-1781)

Date: 1767, 1784

"This principle / In female minds a feebler empire holds, / Opposing less the specious arguments / For milder rule, and freedom's popular theme."

— Jago, Richard (1715-1781)

Date: 1769

"Do you think it possible, Lucy, for a Frenchwoman to love? is not vanity the ruling passion of their hearts?"

— Brooke [née Moore], Frances (bap. 1724, d. 1789)

Date: 1769

We may blush at past follies and indiscretions "when the empire of reason begins"

— Brooke [née Moore], Frances (bap. 1724, d. 1789)