Date: 1847

"His brightening mind brightened his features, and added spirit and nobility to their aspect."

— Brontë, Emily (1818-1848)

Date: 1860

"It is doubtless almost incredible to instructed minds of the present day that a boy of twelve, not belonging strictly to 'the masses' who are now understood to have the monopoly of mental darkness, should have had no distinct idea how there came to be such a thing as Latin on this earth: yet so ...

— Eliot, George (1819-1880)

Date: 1860

"Among the threads of the past which the stricken man had gathered up, he had omitted the bill of sale: the flash of memory had only lit up prominent ideas, and he sank into forgetfulness again with half his humiliation unlearned."

— Eliot, George (1819-1880)

Date: 1860

"At last there was total stiilness, and poor Tulliver's dimly-lighted soul had for ever ceased to be vexed with the painful riddle of this world."

— Eliot, George (1819-1880)

Date: 1890

"We noticed smallest things, / Things overlooked before, / By this great light upon our  minds / Italicized, as 't were."

— Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)

Date: 1892

"I found the phrase to every thought / I ever had, but one; / And that defies me,--as a hand / Did try to chalk the sun // To races nurtured in the dark."

— Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)

Date: 1892

"It's past set down before the soul, / And lighted with a match, / Perusal to facilitate / Of its condensed despatch."

— Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)

Date: 1892

"Grant me, O Lord, a sunny mind, / Thy windy will to bear!"

— Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)