Date: 1692, 1702
"The Soul of Man comes into this World at least as Ill-informed of the Affairs of Grace, as those of Nature. It is in all respects, a Rasa tabula, a meer Blank, and hath need of being fill'd with every thing"
preview | full record— Jurieu, Pierre (1637-1713); Fleetwood, William, Trans.
Date: 1738
"And as the Mind in Infants, is like a white Sheet of Paper, where nothing is written; or like a tender Twig, which may be bent every Way; it is evident, that either Virtue or Vice may be planted in it."
preview | full record— Guazzo, Stefano (1530-1593)
Date: 1744
"The first Man knew them by his Reason; but it was this same Reason that blotted them again from his Mind; for having attained to this Kind of natural Knowledge, he began to mingle therewith his own Notions and Ideas."
preview | full record— Campbell, John (1708-75)
Date: 1753
"These divine foundations can never be shaken; all the good that is imprinted upon this rasa tabula can never be effaced; this holy favour with which a new vessel is imbued, will last a long time."
preview | full record— Du Bosc, Jacques (d. 1660)
Date: 1761
The mind of the hearer might very well be a tabula rasa, free from every prejudice, and like soft wax, susceptible of every impression; and with all this, not yield to truth itself, proposed in the manner it is every day proposed, under the appearance of falsehood."
preview | full record— Batteaux, Charles (1713-1780)
Date: 1788-89
"According to Mr. Locke, the soul is a mere rasa tabula, an empty recipient, a mechanical blank."
preview | full record— Taylor, Thomas (1758-1835)
Date: 1788-89
"According to Plato, she [the soul] is an ever-written tablet, a plenitude of forms, a vital and intellectual energy."
preview | full record— Taylor, Thomas (1758-1835)