Date: 1708, 1714

"They are certainly as ill Physicians in the Body-Politick, who wou'd needs be tampering with these mental Eruptions; and under the specious pretence of healing this Itch of Superstition, and saving Souls from the Contagion of Enthusiasm, shou'd set all Nature in an uproar, and turn a few innocen...

— Cooper, Anthony Ashley, third earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713)

Date: Tuesday, January 22, 1712

"Our Operator, before he engaged in this Visionary Dissection, told us, that there was nothing in his Art more difficult than to lay open the Heart of a Coquet, by reason of the many Labyrinths and Recesses which are to be found in it, and which do not appear in the Heart of any other Animal."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: 1714

"But when a monad has organs that are adjusted in such a way that, through them, there is contrast and distinction among the impressions they receive, and consequently contrast and distinction in the perceptions that represent them [in the monads] (as, for example, when the rays of light are conc...

— Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm (1646-1716)

Date: 1715

"'Twas Zeno's Advice to Dip the Tongue in the Mind before one should Speak."

— Bulstrode, Richard, Sir (1610-1711)

Date: 1718

"Epicurus, that it [sperm] is a Fragment torn from the Body and Soul."

— Plutarch (c. 46-120)

Date: 1718

""Lausippus and Zeno, [sperm] 'tis a Body, and it is a Fragment of the Soul."

— Plutarch (c. 46-120)

Date: Monday, June 8. 1724.

"I am, therefore, inclinable, since very much of my Practice will lie among the Ladies, to call myself a Mind-Midwife: Insinuating, by that Hint, That I can see 'em as safely brought to Bed of their Affectation, and other spiritual Conceptions, as they can be assisted, in their Matrimonal Pregnan...

— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)

Date: Monday, June 22. 1724

"I express myself, with much Seriousness, when I declare, as I here do, that I know not one Science, so Advantageous in Theory, as Mr. Jyngle's New System of Mind Midwifery."

— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)

Date: Monday, July 13, 1724

"This comes to acquaint you, That my dear Spouse is taken sick, of a sudden, and stands in need, to the utmost Degree, of that Experience in Mind-Midwifery, which you gave out Bills about, in your XXVIIth Paper."

— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)

Date: 1727

"It is without Doubt, that Fancy and Imagination form a world of Apparitions in the Minds of Men and Women; (for we must not exclude the Ladies in this Part, whatever we do) and People go away as thoroughly possess'd with the Reality of having seen the Devil, as if they convers'd Face to Face wit...

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)