Date: 1811, 1812

In the "deep record of the Sibyl's leaves, / There no instruction the blank mind receives."

— Jerningham, Edward (1727-1812)

Date: 1811, 1812

"The soul, a cheering lamp, the scene illumes, / Fed with the splendour of ethereal rays, / And bright'ning still, as still the frame decays"

— Jerningham, Edward (1727-1812)

Date: 1854

"Let it [caelestïal Sweetness] not stop when entred at the Ear / But sink, and take deep rooting in my heart."

— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744)

Date: 1969-70

"In this stock exchange within our minds 'modern' has been falling, 'bourgeois' has been rising: a small trend, but probably not without some significance."

— Lukacs, John (b. 1924)

Date: 1975

"But at a certain age, the age at which promotions and Chairs begin to occupy a man's thoughts, he may look back with wistful nostalgia to the day's when his wits ran fresh and clear, directed to a single, positive goal."

— Lodge, David (b. 1935)

Date: 1975

"In the preceding months he had prepared himself with meticulous care, filling his mind with distilled knowledge, drop by drop, until, on the eve of the first paper (Old English Set Texts) it was almost brimming over."

— Lodge, David (b. 1935)

Date: 1975

"Each morning for the next ten days he bore his precious vessel to the examination halls and poured a measured quantity of the contents on to the pages of ruled quarto. Day by day the level fell, until on the tenth day the vessel was empty, the cup was drained, the cupboard was bare"

— Lodge, David (b. 1935)

Date: 1975

"In the years that followed he set about replenishing his mind, but it was never quite the same. The sense of purpose was lacking--there was no great Reckoning against which he could hoard his knowledge, so that it tended to leak away as fast as he acquired it."

— Lodge, David (b. 1935)

Date: 1975

"His soul, like his stomach, was in turmoil."

— Lodge, David (b. 1935)

Date: 1984

"Amid those visits and conversations a book to be called 'The Pound Era' first began to shimmer hazily in my mind."

— Kenner, Hugh (1923-2003)