Date: 1701

"Conceit, like Wind, has seiz'd the empty Head, and Men convulsively strive to utter what they want a Fund of Brains to yeild."

— Baker, Thomas (b. 1680-1)

Date: 1701

"Confusions! Noises! That teaze Retirement, and only eccho in an empty Head."

— Baker, Thomas (b. 1680-1)

Date: w. 1703?

"Descend, O Goddess, to my breast; / There thou may'st reign, unrivall'd and alone, / My thoughts thy subjects, and my heart thy throne."

— Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley [née Lady Mary Pierrepont] (1689-1762)

Date: 1709

"Bring down the Piece,Urania, from Above, / And let my HONOUR and my LOVE / Dress it with Chains of Gold to hang upon my Heart."

— Watts, Isaac (1674-1748)

Date: 1709

"I know the Kindred-Mind. 'Tis she, 'tis she; / Among the Heav'nly Forms I see / The Kindred-Mind from fleshly Bondage free."

— Watts, Isaac (1674-1748)

Date: 1771

"Roused from the sleep of death, a countless crowd / ("Whose hearts like trees before the wind are bow'd ... ) / Press to the hallow'd courts, with eager strife, / Catch the convincing word, and hear for life"

— Wesley, John and Charles

Date: 1794

"My own mind is my own church."

— Paine, Thomas (1737-1809)

Date: 1794

"I have always made it a rule to treat those voluntary visitors [that bolt into the mind of their own accord] with civility, taking care to examine, as well as I was able, if they were worth entertaining; and it is from them I have acquired almost all the knowledge that I have."

— Paine, Thomas (1737-1809)

Date: 1794

"Every person of learning is finally his own teacher; the reason of which is, that principles, being of a distinct quality to circumstances, cannot be impressed upon the memory; their place of mental residence is the understanding, and they are never so lasting as when they begin by conception."

— Paine, Thomas (1737-1809)

Date: 1794

"As to the learning that any person gains from school education, it serves only, like a small capital, to put him in the way of beginning learning for himself afterwards."

— Paine, Thomas (1737-1809)