Date: 1701

"Man is a Creature of so mixed a Composure, and of a Frame so inconsistent and different from Itself, that it easily speaks his Affinity to the highest and meanest Beings; that is to say, he is made of Body and Soul, he is at once an Engine and an Engineer."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: 1701

"This may give him hopes, that tho' his Trunk return to its native Dust he may not all Perish, but the Inhabitant of it may remove to another Mansion; especially since he knows only Mechanically that they have, not Demonstratively how they have, even a present Union."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: 1702

Some Objects may "promote our Joy, are bright to the Eye, or stamp upon our Minds, Pleasure, and Self-satisfaction"

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: 1704

"Who then wou'd court the Pomp of guilty Power, / When the Mind sickens at the weary Shew, / And flies to temporary Death for Ease."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: 1709

"To tell you truly, said I, about the thirtieth year of my age, I received a wound that has still left a Scar in my Mind, never to be quite worn out by Time or Philosophy."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: Thursday, May 5, to Saturday, May 7, 1709

"Such images as these give us a new pleasure in our sight, and fix upon our minds traces of reflection, which accompany us whenever the like objects occur."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: Saturday, May 7, to Tuesday, May 10, 1709

"The next, as I said, I went to was a common swearer: never was creature so puzzled as myself when I came first to view his brain; half of it was worn out, and filled up with mere expletives, that had nothing to do with any other parts of the texture."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: Saturday, May 7, to Tuesday, May 10, 1709

"When we first take our place about a man, the receptacles of the pericranium are immediately searched. In his, I found no one ordinary trace of thinking; but strong passion, violent desires, and a continued series of different changes, had torn it to pieces."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: Saturday, June 4, to Tuesday, June 7, 1709

"This rivets you into his heart; for you at once applaud his wisdom, and gratify his inclination."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: Thursday, June 9, to Saturday, June 11, 1709

"The fellow with broken limbs justly deserves your alms for his impotent condition; but he that cannot use his own reason, is in a much worse state; for you see him in miserable circumstances, with his remedy at the same time in his own possession, if he would or could use it."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)