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Date: 1611-12, 1623

"Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased; / Pluck from the memory of a rooted sorrow; / Raze out the written troubles of the brain; / And with some sweet oblivious antidote / Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff / Which weighs upon the heart?"

— Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

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Date: 1652

"So that Reason is the Pen by which Nature writes this Law of her own composing; This Law 'tis publisht by Authority from heaven, and Reason is the Printer: This eye of the soul 'tis to spy out all dangers and all advantages, all conveniences and disconveniences in reference to such a being, and ...

— Culverwell, Nathanael (bap. 1619, d. 1651)

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Date: 1652

"He did not antedate his own knowledge, nor remember the several postures of his soul, and the famous exploits of his minde before he was born; but plainly profest that his understanding came naked into the world. He shews you an [...], an abrasa tabula, a virgin-soul espousing it self to the bod...

— Culverwell, Nathanael (bap. 1619, d. 1651)

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Date: 1673

" For tho the adulterations of art, can represent in the same Face beauty in one position, and deformity in another, yet nature is more sincere, and never meant a serene and clear forhead, should be the frontispiece to a cloudy tempestuous heart."

— Allestree, Richard (1611/2-1681)

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Date: 1690, 1694, 1695, 1700, 1706

"We may as well think the use of Reason necessary to make our Eyes discover visible Objects, as that there should be need of Reason, of the Exercise thereof, to make the Understanding see, what is Originally engraven in it"

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

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Date: 1690, 1694, 1695, 1700, 1706

"This would be, to make Nature take Pains to no Purpose; Or, at least, to write very ill; since its Characters could not be read by those Eyes, which saw other things very well: and those are very ill supposed the clearest parts of Truth, and the Foundations of all our Knowledge."

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

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Date: 1729

"Oh, let not the soft, penetrating plague / Creep on the freeborn mind! and working there, / With the sharp tooth of many a new-form'd want, / Endless, and idle all, eat out the heart / Of liberty; the high conception blast; / The noble sentiment, the impatient scorn / Of base subjection, and the...

— Thomson, James (1700-1748)

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Date: May 6, 1736

"These first Characters therefore ought to be deeply and beautifully struck, and the Learning they express should be of great Price. And this, if timely Care be taken, may be done with ease because the Mind is then soft and tender: and because Truth and Right are by the nature of Things, as pleas...

— Denne, John (1693-1767)

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Date: 1746

"Books, not well digested, blot the mind"

— Ruffhead, James

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Date: 1746

"So books, not well digested, blot the mind, / But make us - in search of wisdom - blind"

— Ruffhead, James

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