"In the wildest flights of fancy, it is probable that no single idea occurs to us but such as had a connection with some other impression or idea, previously existing in the mind."

— Priestley, Joseph (1733-1804)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Johnson
Date
1775
Metaphor
"In the wildest flights of fancy, it is probable that no single idea occurs to us but such as had a connection with some other impression or idea, previously existing in the mind."
Metaphor in Context
In the wildest flights of fancy, it is probable that no single idea occurs to us but such as had a connection with some other impression or idea, previously existing in the mind; and what we call new thoughts are only new combinations, of old simple ideas, or decompositions of complex ones.
(p. xxvi)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
At least 4 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1775, 1776, 1790).

See Hartley’s Theory of the Human Mind, on the Principle of the Association of Ideas; With Essays Relating to the Subject of It. By Joseph Priestley, LL. D. F. R. S. (London: Printed for J. Johnson, No. 72, St. Paul’s Church-Yard, 1775). <Link to ESTC>
Theme
Flights of Fancy
Date of Entry
07/22/2011

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.