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Date: 1641

"As Lots wife was turned into a Pillar of Salt, that her inconstancie might be fixt, and yet be melting still: So, thou, my Soule, if I had my wish, shouldst be turned into a Pillar of Thoughts; that thy volubility might be restrain'd, and yet be thinking still."

— Baker, Richard, Sir (c. 1568-1645)

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Date: 1651

"And as the Grindstone to unpolish'd Steel / Gives Edge, and Lustre: so my Mind, I feel / VVhetted, and glaz'd by Fortunes turning VVheel"

— Sherburne, Sir Edward (bap. 1616, d. 1702)

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Date: 1651

"Attraction is a ministering faculty, which, as a loadstone doth iron, draws meat into the stomach, or as a lamp doth oil; and this attractive power is very necessary in plants, which suck up moisture by the root, as, another mouth, into the sap, as a like stomach."

— Burton, Robert (1577-1640)

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Date: 1656

"Thales argued, that the Load-stone, and Amber had soules; the first because it drawes Iron, the second Straw."

— Stanley, Thomas (1625-1678)

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Date: 1657

"But like true steel my heart doth pant, / To touch the long'd for Adamant."

— Bold, Henry (1627-1683)

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Date: 1657

"O be thou pleas'd to purge away my dross: / Calcine my soul; obliterate my sins; / And make me pure against that day begins."

— Billingsley, Nicholas (bap. 1633, d. 1709)

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Date: 1657

"Alas! alas! my flesh is too too weak, / And may be conquer'd; thou maist eas'ly break / This brittle Casket: but my inward minde / A jewel is which thou shalt never finde."

— Billingsley, Nicholas (bap. 1633, d. 1709)

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Date: 1657

"Above three thousand being hid in caves, / VVere stifled by these marble-hearted slaves."

— Billingsley, Nicholas (bap. 1633, d. 1709)

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Date: 1657

Fancy is "The forge of shapes and dreams."

— Poole, Joshua (c.1615–c.1656)

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Date: 1658

"And in the furnace of affliction, / Their drossie souls thou dost refine"

— Billingsley, Nicholas (bap. 1633, d. 1709)

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The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.