"Whether the Mind, like Soil, doth not by Disuse grow stiff; and whether Reasoning and Study be not like stirring and dividing the Glebe?"
— Berkeley, George (1685-1753)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for W. Innys, C. Davis, C. Hitch, W. Bowyer;
Date
1750, 1752
Metaphor
"Whether the Mind, like Soil, doth not by Disuse grow stiff; and whether Reasoning and Study be not like stirring and dividing the Glebe?"
Metaphor in Context
196. Whether the Mind, like Soil, doth not by Disuse grow stiff; and whether Reasoning and Study be not like stirring and dividing the Glebe?
197. Whether an early Habit of Reflexion, although obtained by speculative Sciences, may not have its Use in practical Affairs?
198. Whether even those Parts of Academical Learning which are quite forgotten, may not have improved and enriched the Soil, like those Vegetables which are raised, not for themselves, but plowed in for a Dressing of Land?
(p. 140; cf. p. 22 in 1750 ed.)
197. Whether an early Habit of Reflexion, although obtained by speculative Sciences, may not have its Use in practical Affairs?
198. Whether even those Parts of Academical Learning which are quite forgotten, may not have improved and enriched the Soil, like those Vegetables which are raised, not for themselves, but plowed in for a Dressing of Land?
(p. 140; cf. p. 22 in 1750 ed.)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Originally published in three installments 1735, 1736, 1737; substantially revised in 1750. At least 13 entries in ESTC (1735, 1736, 1737, 1750, 1751, 1752, 1760).
Earliest result in ECCO: The Querist, Containing Several Queries, Proposed to the Consideration of the Public. By the Right Reverend Dr. George Berkley, Lord Bishop of Cloyne. To Which Is Added, by the Same Author, a Word to the Wise: or, an Exhortation to the Roman Catholic Clergy of Ireland. (London: Printed for W. Innys, C. Davis, C. Hitch, W. Bowyer; and sold by M. Cooper, in Pater-Noster-Row, 1750). <Link to ECCO>
Text from A Miscellany, Containing Several Tracts on Various Subjects. By the Bishop of Cloyne. (London: Printed for J. and R. Tonson and S. Draper, 1752). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Earliest result in ECCO: The Querist, Containing Several Queries, Proposed to the Consideration of the Public. By the Right Reverend Dr. George Berkley, Lord Bishop of Cloyne. To Which Is Added, by the Same Author, a Word to the Wise: or, an Exhortation to the Roman Catholic Clergy of Ireland. (London: Printed for W. Innys, C. Davis, C. Hitch, W. Bowyer; and sold by M. Cooper, in Pater-Noster-Row, 1750). <Link to ECCO>
Text from A Miscellany, Containing Several Tracts on Various Subjects. By the Bishop of Cloyne. (London: Printed for J. and R. Tonson and S. Draper, 1752). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
03/16/2014
