"But what shall we think of this strange Sieve, which lets some things pass through, and retains others; and often retains the most unprofitable?"
— Forbes of Pitsligo, Alexander Forbes, Lord (1678-1762)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Osborn and T. Longman
Date
1734
Metaphor
"But what shall we think of this strange Sieve, which lets some things pass through, and retains others; and often retains the most unprofitable?"
Metaphor in Context
AEMILIUS
The Memory is not only a Register of Tales, and Names, and Fictions, (the Materials of common Discourse) but may be called a Register of every thing that enters into the Senses and the Imagination. But what shall we think of this strange Sieve, which lets some things pass through, and retains others; and often retains the most unprofitable? To forget, is certainly among the Defects of our Nature: and yet, as things go, it were a kind of Happiness to forget the most part of what we hear; and we should be at no loss to forget even several things that we read: tho' we may blame our selves more for what we read than what we hear, not having at all times the choice of our Company.
(p. 86)
The Memory is not only a Register of Tales, and Names, and Fictions, (the Materials of common Discourse) but may be called a Register of every thing that enters into the Senses and the Imagination. But what shall we think of this strange Sieve, which lets some things pass through, and retains others; and often retains the most unprofitable? To forget, is certainly among the Defects of our Nature: and yet, as things go, it were a kind of Happiness to forget the most part of what we hear; and we should be at no loss to forget even several things that we read: tho' we may blame our selves more for what we read than what we hear, not having at all times the choice of our Company.
(p. 86)
Categories
Provenance
ECCO-TCP
Citation
Three entries in ESTC (1734, 1762, 1763).
See Essays Moral and Philosophical, on Several Subjects: Viz. A View of the Human Faculties. (London: Printed for J. Osborn and T. Longman, 1734). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
See Essays Moral and Philosophical, on Several Subjects: Viz. A View of the Human Faculties. (London: Printed for J. Osborn and T. Longman, 1734). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
08/18/2013
