Date: 1785
"Sir, Dr Cheyne has laid down a rule to himself on this subject, which should be imprinted on every mind: 'To neglect nothing to secure my eternal peace, more than if I had been certified I should die within the day: nor to mind any thing that my secular obligations and duties demanded of me, les...
preview | full record— Boswell, James (1740-1795)
Date: 1786
"Our minds are like blank paper, as a great philosopher has observed, and the first impressions they receive are generally the most permanent and powerful."
preview | full record— Anonymous
Date: 1787
"That frequently happens; and when once a false idea is impressed, it is very difficult to erase it, particularly at your age; as you are not yet capable of distinguishing the false from the true."
preview | full record— Louise Florence Pétronille Tardieu d'Ésclavelles Épinay (marquise d') (1726-1783)
Date: 1788
"But in general, I know of no method of getting money, not even that of robbing for it upon the highway, which has so direct a tendency to efface the moral sense, to rob the heart of every gentle and humane disposition, and to harden it, like steel, against all impressions of sensibility."
preview | full record— Newton, John (1725-1807)
Date: 1790, 1794
He was allowed to do so, and read it till every word was imprinted on his memory; and after enjoying the sad luxury of holding it that night on his bosom, was forced the next morning to relinquish his treasure."
preview | full record— Williams, Helen Maria (1759-1827)