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Date: 1791

"I compared him at this time to a warm West-Indian climate, where you have a bright sun, quick vegetation, luxuriant foliage, luscious fruits; but where the same heat sometimes produces thunder, lightening, and earthquakes in a terrible degree.

— Boswell, James (1740-1795)

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Date: November 19, 1793

"Like the blue firmament above us, our minds and fortunes are constantly changing. The sun that descends in glory amidst the serenity of an evening sky, frequently rises in the morning, through the gloom of clouds, and the rage of storms."

— Boyd, Hugh (1746-1794)

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Date: 1794

"Mr. Falkland's mind was full of uproar like the war of contending elements"

— Godwin, William (1756-1836)

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Date: 1796, 1817

"Full many a thought uncall'd and undetain'd, / And many idle flitting phantasies, / Traverse my indolent and passive brain, / As wild and various as the random gales / That swell and flutter on this subject Lute!"

— Coleridge, Samuel Taylor (1772-1834)

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Date: 1796, 1817

"And what if all of animated nature / Be but organic Harps diversely fram'd, / That tremble into thought, as o'er them sweeps / Plastic and vast, one intellectual breeze, / At once the Soul of each, and God of all?"

— Coleridge, Samuel Taylor (1772-1834)

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Date: w. 1788-93, 1796 (rev. 1815, 1827, 1837, 1897)

"His argument on topics of less absurdity is specious and acute, his manner is lively, his style forcible and clear; and, had not his vigorous mind been clouded by enthusiasm, he might be ranked with the most agreeable and ingenious writers of the times."

— Gibbon, Edward (1737-1794)

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Date: 1796

"The cloud was now dissipated which had obscured his judgment; he shuddered when he beheld his arguments blazoned in their proper colours, and found that he had been a slave to flattery, to avarice, and self-love."

— Lewis, Matthew Gregory (1775-1818)

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Date: 1796

"He wrote these verses on his voyage to Cuba, when his mind was clouded by sorrow, and he forgot that he had a wife and children."

— Lewis, Matthew Gregory (1775-1818)

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Date: 1796

"He was still under the influence of this storm of passions, when he heard a gentle knock at the door of his cell."

— Lewis, Matthew Gregory (1775-1818)

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Date: 1796

"At the same time the cloud disappeared, and he beheld a figure more beautiful than fancy's pencil ever drew."

— Lewis, Matthew Gregory (1775-1818)

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