Date: 1760-7

"Secondly, slight and transient impressions made by objects when the said organs are not dull."

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1760-7

"I was but ten years old when this happened;--but whether it was, that the action itself was more in unison to my nerves at that age of pity, which instantly set my whole frame into one vibration of most pleasurable sensation;--or how far the manner and expression of it might go towards it;--or i...

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1762

"Your constant endeavours have been to inculcate the best principles into youthful minds, the only probable means of mending mankind; for the foundation of most of our virtues, or our vices, are laid in that season of life when we are most susceptible of impression, and when our minds, as on a sh...

— Scott [née Robinson], Sarah (1720-1795)

Date: 1762

"This scene had made too deep an impression on our minds, not to be the subject of our discourse all the way home."

— Scott [née Robinson], Sarah (1720-1795)

Date: 1762

"He reverenced and respected her like a divinity, but hoped that prudence might enable him to conquer his passion, at the same time that it had not force enough to determine him to fly her presence, the only possible means of lessening the impression which every hour engraved more deeply on his h...

— Scott [née Robinson], Sarah (1720-1795)

Date: 1762-3

"Fancy steps in, and stamps that real, / Which, ipso facto, is ideal."

— Churchill, Charles (1731-1764)

Date: 1762-3

The senses should be distrusted "till Reason sets her seal, / And, by long trains of consequences / Ensured, gives sanction to the senses."

— Churchill, Charles (1731-1764)

Date: 1762

"Human nature cannot feel a deeper affliction than now overwhelmed Miss Melvyn; wherein Sir Charles bore as great a share, as the easiness of his nature was capable of;--but his heart was not susceptible, either of strong, or lasting impressions."

— Scott [née Robinson], Sarah (1720-1795)

Date: 1765

"Reason in the bosom pours, / Its growth improves, its fruit matures, / Each counsel of the human brain / Weighs in his scale, and stamps it vain?"

— Merrick, James (1720-1769)

Date: 1765

"The man is blessed, as he prays, / Whose reins thy strength receive, / And in whose heart thy word and ways / A deep impression leave."

— Smart, Christopher (1722-1771)