Date: Thursday, November 1, 1711
"But upon turning this Plan to and fro in my Thoughts, I observed so many unaccountable Humours in Man, that I did not know out of what Animals to fetch them."
preview | full record— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)
Date: Wednesday, June 18, 1712
"These Motions are given us with our Being, they are little Spirits that are born and dye with us; to some they are mild, easie, and gentle, to others wayward and unruly, yet never too strong for the Reins of Reason and the Guidance of Judgment."
preview | full record— Anonymous
Date: Wednesday, June 18, 1712
"We may generally observe a pretty nice Proportion between the Strength of Reason and Passion; the greatest Genius's have commonly the strongest Affections, as on the other hand, the weaker Understandings have generally the weaker Passions; and 'tis fit the Fury of the Coursers should not be too ...
preview | full record— Anonymous
Date: Friday, June 20, 1712
"Upon her Tongue did such smooth Mischief dwell, / And from her Lips such welcome Flatt'ry fell, / Th' unguarded Youth, in Silken Fetters ty'd, / Resign'd his Reason, and with Ease complied. / Thus does the Ox to his own Slaughter go, / And thus is senseless of th' impending Blow. / Thus flies th...
preview | full record— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)
Date: 1705, 1714, 1732
"Malice and most severe Strokes of Fortune can do no more Injury to a Mind thus stript of all Fears, Wishes and Inclinations, than a blind Horse can do in an empty Barn"
preview | full record— Mandeville, Bernard (bap. 1670, d. 1733)
Date: 1716
"Let thy Studies [he writes] be as free as thy Thoughts and Contemplations: but fly not only upon the wings of Imagination."
preview | full record— Browne, Sir Thomas (1605-1682)
Date: 1724
"But in its proper Vacuity, and being freed from these Letts and Impediments, it [the soul] would mount towards its Original, like an Eagle toward the Sun."
preview | full record— Cheyne, George (1671-1743)
Date: 1727
"Conscience draws the Picture of the Crime in Apparition just before him, and the Reflection, not the injur'd Soul, is the Spectre that haunts him: Nor can he need a worse Tormenter in this Life; whether there is a worse hereafter, or no, I do not pretend to determine. This is certainly 'a Worm t...
preview | full record— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)
Date: 1727
"These abandon'd him to the Fury of an enrag'd Conscience, open'd the Sluices of the Soul, as I call them, and pour'd in a Flood of unsufferable Grief, letting loose those wild Beasts call'd Passions upon him, such as Rage, Anguish, Self-reproach, too late Repentance, and final Desperation, all t...
preview | full record— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)
Date: 1729
"We have a faint Image of these Operations in Hawking: For Memory may be justly compar'd to the Dog that beats the Field, or the Wood, and that starts the Game; Imagination to the Falcon that clips it upon its Pinions after it; and Judgment to the Falconer, who directs the Flight, and who governs...
preview | full record— Dennis, John (1658-1734)