Date: 1738

A person may be called the same person by "a continual Superaddition of the like Consciousness ... Just as a Ship is called the same Ship, after the whole Substance is changed by frequent Repairs; or a River is called the same River, though the Water of it be every Day new."

— Clarke, Samuel (1675-1729)

Date: January 1739

"I have already observed, in examining the foundation of mathematics, that the imagination, when set into any train of thinking, is apt to continue even when its object fails it, and, like a galley put in motion by the oars, carries on its course without any new impulse."

— Hume, David (1711-1776)

Date: 1741

"Two men travelling on the highway, the one east, the other west, can easily pass each other, if the way be broad enough: But two men, reasoning upon opposite principles of religion, cannot so easily pass, without shocking; though one should think, that the way were also, in that case, sufficient...

— Hume, David (1711-1776)

Date: 1742

"The mind naturally continues with the same impetus or force, which it has acquired by its motion; as a vessel, once impelled by the oars, carries on its course for some time, when the original impulse is suspended."

— Hume, David (1711-1776)

Date: 1742

"All depends on your opinions: These are in your power. Remove, therefore, when you incline, your opinion; and then, as when one has turned the promontory, and got into a bay, all is calm; so, all shall become stable to you, and a still harbour."

— Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180), Francis Hutcheson (1694-1746), and James Moor (bap. 1712, d. 1779)

Date: 1744

"These are the Exercises of the Understanding, and in these, as in a Chariot, the Soul takes the Air; while I am capable of these, I don't give myself much concern about bodily Decays, I am always at the Command of my Friends attend the Service of the House frequently, and distinguish myself in D...

— Campbell, John (1708-75)

Date: 1748, 1777

"And while the body is confined to one planet, along which it creeps with pain and difficulty; the thought can in an instant transport us into the most distant regions of the universe; or even beyond the universe, into the unbounded chaos, where nature is supposed to lie in total confusion."

— Hume, David (1711-1776)

Date: 1751, 1777

"We may as well imagine, that minute wheels and springs, like those of a watch, give motion to a loaded wagon, as account for the origin of passion from such abstruse reflections."

— Hume, David (1711-1776)

Date: 1760-1761, 1762

"Thus, as a bark on every side beset with storms, enjoys a state of rest, so does the mind, when influenced by a just equipoise of the passions, enjoy tranquility"

— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)

Date: 1774

"When an ingenious track of thinking presents itself, though but casually, to true genius, occupied it may be with something else, imagination darts alongst it with great rapidity; and by this rapidity its ardor is more inflamed. The velocity of its motion sets it on fire, like a chariot wheel wh...

— Gerard, Alexander (1728-1795)