"Without Memory the Soul of Man would be but a poor destitute naked Being, with an everlasting Blank spread over it, except the fleeting ideas of the present Moment."
— Watts, Isaac (1674-1748)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for James Brackstone
Date
1741
Metaphor
"Without Memory the Soul of Man would be but a poor destitute naked Being, with an everlasting Blank spread over it, except the fleeting ideas of the present Moment."
Metaphor in Context
So necessary and excellent a Faculty is the Memory of Man, that all other Abilities of the Mind borrow from hence their Beauty and Perfection; for the other Capacities of the Soul are almost useless without this ... Without Memory the Soul of Man would be but a poor destitute naked Being, with an everlasting Blank spread over it, except the fleeting ideas of the present Moment
Categories
Provenance
Reading S. H. Clark's "Locke and Metaphor Reconsidered" in JHI 59:2 (1998) p. 248-9
Citation
32 entries in ESTC (1741, 1743, 1753, 1754, 1761, 1768, 1773, 1782, 1784, 1785, 1786, 1787, 1789, 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1798, 1799, 1800).
Most text drawn from Google Books. See The Improvement of the Mind: or, a Supplement to the Art of Logick: Containing a Variety of Remarks and Rules for the Attainment and Communication of Useful Knowledge, in Religion, in the Sciences, and in Common Life. By I. Watts, D.D. (London: Printed for James Brackstone, at the Globe in Cornhill, 1741). <Link to ESTC><Link to 2nd edition in Google Books>
Most text drawn from Google Books. See The Improvement of the Mind: or, a Supplement to the Art of Logick: Containing a Variety of Remarks and Rules for the Attainment and Communication of Useful Knowledge, in Religion, in the Sciences, and in Common Life. By I. Watts, D.D. (London: Printed for James Brackstone, at the Globe in Cornhill, 1741). <Link to ESTC><Link to 2nd edition in Google Books>
Date of Entry
03/21/2005
