Date: January 3, 1750-51, 1807

"Rein in, on these important subjects, your imagination."

— Mulso [later Chapone], Hester (1727-1801)

Date: Tuesday, March 12, 1751

"There is no snare more dangerous to busy and excursive minds, than the cobwebs of petty inquisitiveness, which entangle them in trivial employments and minute studies, and detain them in a middle state, between the tediousness of total inactivity, and the fatigue of laborious efforts, enchant th...

— Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)

Date: 1753

"The Moral of this Fable is, that Humanity is the Characteristick of Man; and that a cruel Soul in a human Body, is only a Wolf in Disguise."

— Boyse, Samuel (1708-1749)

Date: 1754

"If I cannot, draw out Cacus from his Den; I may pluck the Villain from my own Breast. I cannot cleanse the Stables of Augeas; but I may cleanse my own Heart from Filth and Impurity: I may demolish the Hydra of Vices within me; and should be careful too, that while I lop off ...

— Hay, William (1695-1755)

Date: 1755

"Or, the Power and Sway which the Soul exercises over them! Ten thousand Reins put into her Hands; yet she manages all, conducts all, without the least Perplexity or the least Irregularity: rather, with a Promptitude, a Consistency, and a Speed, that nothing else can equal!"

— Hervey, James (1714-1758)

Date: 1755

"Now I am speaking of her, I must not omit the Mention of Mr. Joseph Marples, her second Husband, the faithful Partner of her Sorrows; who is worthy the Consideration of every human Heart, as he tenderly endeavours to soften all her Distresses, which doubly preys on his Mind, from Want of Power t...

— Charke [née Cibber; other married name Sacheverell], Charlotte [alias Mr Brown] (1713-1760)

Date: 1755

"THE SHOCK OF RECEIVING MY OWN LETTER did not excite a sudden Gust of unwarrantable Passion, but prey'd upon my Heart with the slow and eating Fire of Distraction and Despair, 'till it ended in a Fever, which now remains upon my Spirits; and which, I fear, I shall find a difficult Task to overcome."

— Charke [née Cibber; other married name Sacheverell], Charlotte [alias Mr Brown] (1713-1760)

Date: 1755

"Notwithstanding the Gaiety of Bath, they swarm like Wasps in June, and have left their Stings in the Minds of many."

— Charke [née Cibber; other married name Sacheverell], Charlotte [alias Mr Brown] (1713-1760)

Date: 1757

"By looking into physical causes our minds are opened and enlarged; and in this pursuit whether we take or whether we lose our game, the chace is certainly of service"

— Burke, Edmund (1729-1797)

Date: 1757

"[T]he judgment is for the greater part employed in throwing stumbling blocks in the way of the imagination, in dissipating the scenes of enchantment, and in tying us down to the disagreeable yoke of our reason"

— Burke, Edmund (1729-1797)