Date: 1767

"I was now resolved to be myself an eye-witness of thy behaviour, and to try if there was any spark of virtue remaining in thy soul which could possibly be rekindled."

— Sheridan [née Chamberlaine], Frances (1724-1766)

Date: 1768

"In saying this, I was making not so much La Fleur's eloge, as my own, having been in love with one princess or another almost all my life, and I hope I shall go on so, till I die, being firmly persuaded, that if ever I do a mean action, it must be in some interval betwixt one passion and another...

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1768

"The fire caught--and the whole city, like the heart of one man, open'd itself to Love."

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1769

"The first reverend sage who delivered himself on this mysterious subject, having stroked his grey beard, and hemmed thrice with great solemnity, declared that the soul was an animal; a second pronounced it to be the number three, or proportion; a third contended for the number seven, or harmony;...

— Smollett, Tobias (1721-1777)

Date: 1773

"But his temper was not altogether of that fiery kind, which some young men, so circumstanced, and so educated, are possessed of."

— Mackenzie, Henry (1745-1831)

Date: 1776

"Would it were passed, and that like Aetna, though my bosom flamed, my head was crowned with snow."

— Griffith, Elizabeth (1720-1793)

Date: 1778, 1779

"'Leave me, Madam,' cried he, with quickness, "and take care of the poor child;--bid her not think me unkind,--tell her I would at this moment plunge a dagger in my heart to serve her,--but she has set my brain on fire, and I can see her no more!'"

— Burney [married name D'Arblay], Frances (1752-1840)

Date: 1777, 1780

"The notice and observation of strangers, and the affection of individuals, together with that inward consciousness that always attends superiour qualities, would sometimes kindle the flames of ambition in Edmund's heart; but he checked them presently by reflecting upon his low birth and dependan...

— Reeve, Clara (1729-1807)

Date: 1782

"My brain is on fire!"

— Burney [married name D'Arblay], Frances (1752-1840)

Date: 1782

"But a smooth and stedfast mind, / Gentle thought and calm desires, / Hearts in equal love combin'd, / Kindle never-dying fires; / Where these are not I despise / Lovely cheeks, or lips, or eyes."

— Fenn [née Frere], Ellenor (1744-1813)