Date: 1751

"Tho' an impression is made upon the mind, by means of the image painted upon the retina, whereby the external object is perceived; yet nature has carefully concealed this impression from us, in order to remove all ambiguity, and to give us a distinct feeling of the object itself, and of that only."

— Home, Henry, Lord Kames (1696-1782)

Date: 1760-7

"To conceive this right,--call for pen and ink--here's paper ready to your hand. --Sit down, Sir, paint her to your own mind"

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1762

"But as resentment when so outrageous is contrary to conscience, the mind, to justify its passion as well as to gratify it, is disposed to paint these relations in the blackest colours; and it actually comes to be convinced, that they ought to be punished for their own demerits."

— Home, Henry, Lord Kames (1696-1782)

Date: 1768

"The mind sits terrified at the objects she has magnified herself and blackened; reduce them to their proper size and hue she overlooks them."

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1768

"I could not sustain the picture of confinement which my fancy had drawn."

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1768

"I conceive every fair being as a temple, and would rather enter in, and see the original drawings and loose sketches hung up in it, than the transfiguration of Raphael itself."

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1755, 1771

"For this, fair hope leads on the' impassion'd soul / Through life's wild labyrinths to her distant goal; / Paints in each dream, to fan the genial flame, / The pomp of riches, and the pride of fame, / Or fondly gives reflection's cooler eye / A glance, an image, of a future sky."

— Cawthorn, James (1719-1761)

Date: 1755, 1771

"Passions, like colours, have their strength and ease, / Those too insipid, and too gaudy these."

— Cawthorn, James (1719-1761)

Date: 1755, 1771

"Contrast them, curb them, spread them, or confine, / Ennoble these, and those forbid to shine; / With cooler shades ambition's fire allay, / And mildly melt the pomp of pride away; / Her rainbow robe from vanity remove, / Each pulse congenial with the' informing mind, / Each action station'd in ...

— Cawthorn, James (1719-1761)

Date: 1783

"Secondly, The pleasure of Comparison arises from the illustration which the simile employed gives to the principal object; from the clearer view of it which it presents; or the more strong impression of it which it stamps upon the mind: and, thirdly, It arises from the introduction of a new, and...

— Blair, Hugh (1718-1800)