Date: 1708

"Besides, he has given an account of those several steps and degrees by which a Man is brought to this perfection; till his Soul is like a polish'd Looking-glass, in which he beholds the Truth: and then he swims in pleasure, and rejoyces exceedingly in his Mind, because of the impressions of Trut...

— Ockley, Simon (bap. 1679, d. 1720)

Date: 1708

"And then lastly, there are others, (represented by those Glasses, in our last comparison) in which the impressions of this Spirit are visible, and such we reckon all sorts of Animals. But then, as these smooth and polish'd Bodies which are of the same figure with the Sun [i.e. Spherical] do rece...

— Ockley, Simon (bap. 1679, d. 1720)

Date: 1708

"Now, when this Form prevails to such a degree that all others are nothing before it, but it remains alone, so as to consume, with the glory of its Light, whatsoever stands; in it's way; then it is properly compared to those Glasses, which reflect Light upon themselves, and burn every thing else;...

— Ockley, Simon (bap. 1679, d. 1720)

Date: 1712, 1719

"God of the Grape, I'll wisely use / Thy heav'nly Gifts, nor will disclose / Thy sacred Rites; do thou asswage / My burning Soul, and curb thy Rage: / Lest to new hateful Crimes I run: / Lest Vanity seize Reason's Throne, / And wretched I to open Day / The Secrets of the Night betray, / And my He...

— Oldisworth, William (1680-1734)

Date: w. 1703, 1712

"The clear, reflecting Mind, presents his Sin / In frightful Views, and makes it Day within."

— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744)

Date: 1715-1720

"There is [a Comparison] of great Beauty in Virgil, upon a Subject very like this, where he compares his Hero's Mind, agitated with a great Variety and quick Succession of Thoughts, to a dancing Light reflected from a Vessel of Water in Motion."

— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744)

Date: 1770

"Destructive eyes, false mirrors of the heart! / I, to my sorrow know the lies you've told me."

— Stockdale, Percival (1736-1811)

Date: 1815

The wavering motions of the mind are like "quivering light" reflected off a confined "crystal flood" in a brass cistern

— Cowper, William (1731-1800)