Date: 1767

"A Writer however, of the kind last mentioned, instead of tracing the footsteps of his predecessors, will allow his imagination to range over the field of Invention, in quest of its materials; and, from the group of figures collected by it, will strike out a character like his own Genius, perfect...

— Duff, William (1732-1815)

Date: 1767

This ideal region is indeed the proper sphere of Fancy, in which she may range with a loose rein, without suffering restraint from the severe checks of Judgment; for Judgment has very little jurisdiction in this province of Fable."

— Duff, William (1732-1815)

Date: 1770

"Thus far we have endeavoured to distinguish and ascertain the separate provinces of Reason and Common Sense. Their connection and mutual dependence, and the extent of their respective jurisdictions, we now proceed more particularly to investigate."

— Beattie, James (1735-1803)

Date: 1771

"Lastly the road, which leads to Memory through a series of Ideas, however connected whether rationally or casually, this is RECOLLECTION."

— Harris, James (1709-1780)

Date: 1774

"Imagination is still more inventive in all its other operations. It can lead us from a perception that is present, to the view of many more, and carry us through extensive, distant, and untrodden fields of thought. It can dart in an instant, from earth to heaven, and from heaven to earth; it can...

— Gerard, Alexander (1728-1795)

Date: 1774

"As acuteness of smell carries a dog along the path of the game for which he searches, and secures him against the danger of quitting it, upon another scent: so this happy structure of imagination leads the man of genius into those tracks where the proper ideas lurk, and not only enables him to d...

— Gerard, Alexander (1728-1795)

Date: 1774

"Often, however, the bye-roads of association, as we may term them, lead to rich and unexpected regions, give occasion to noble sallies of imagination, and proclaim an uncommon force of genius, able to penetrate through unfrequented ways to lofty or beautiful conceptions."

— Gerard, Alexander (1728-1795)

Date: 1774

"It is only judgment constantly exerting itself along with fancy, and often checking it and examining its ideas, that produces by degrees a habit of correctness in thinking, and enures the mind to move straight forward to the end proposed, without declining into the byepaths which run off on both...

— Gerard, Alexander (1728-1795)

Date: 1774

"If we lose sight altogether of the beaten road of memory, we shall be in danger of missing our way in the winding paths of imagination. So bold an adventurer will come at last to regions inhabited only by monsters."

— Gerard, Alexander (1728-1795)

Date: 1774

"Relations which we are accustomed to follow in the train of our thoughts, are like roads with which we are acquainted, and in which we therefore pursue a journey without any concern, hesitation, or deviation."

— Gerard, Alexander (1728-1795)