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Date: 1701

"For I will here suppose the Soul, or Mind of Man, to be at first, rasa Tabula, like fair paper, that hath no connate Character or Idea's imprinted upon it (as that Learned Theorist Mr. Lock hath, I suppose, fully proved) and that it is not sensible of any thing at its coming...

— Cumberland, Richard (1632-1718)

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Date: 1715

"And here we must conceive the Mind as the chief Part of Man, a judging Substance, but free from all Anticipations and Ideas; a plain Rasa Tabula, but fit for any impressions from external Objects, and capable to make Deductions from them"

— Lucretius Carus, Titus (94 B.C.- ca. 49 B.C.); Creech, Thomas (1659-1700)

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Date: 1715

"But because this Notion of a Rasa Tabula will not agree with those, who are fond of some, I know not what, innate, speculative, and practical ideas; it will be necessary to consider the Instances they produce"

— Lucretius Carus, Titus (94 B.C.- ca. 49 B.C.); Creech, Thomas (1659-1700)

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Date: 1720

"For as in the Body Politick, the Prince, (whom Seneca calls the Soul of the Commonwealth.) receiveth no Passages of State, or false Ones, where there is Negligence, or Disability in those subjectate Inquirers, (whom Xenophon terms the Eyes and Ears of Kings.) In like Manner the Soul of Man being...

— Hales, John (1584-1656)

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Date: 1742 [see first edition, 1733]

"The Mind, like a Tabula rasa, easyly receives the first Impression; and, like that, when the first Impression is deeply made, it with Difficulty admits of an Erasement of the first Characters, which in some Minds are indelible"

— Cooke, Thomas (1703-1756)

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Date: 1739

"YET I would not say with some, that the Soul is a meer Rasa Tabula; because I do not think that is a proper Metaphor in this Case."

— Hancock, John (fl. 1739)

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Date: January 1739

"Her enemy, therefore, is obliged to take shelter under her protection, and by making use of rational arguments to prove the fallaciousness and imbecility of reason, produces, in a manner, a patent under her hand and seal."

— Hume, David (1711-1776)

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Date: 1741

"In this, therefore, I am forced to differ from that great Philosopher and Master of Reason, Mr. Locke, who denies and argues against all innate Ideas in general, and of every Kind: He supposes the Soul originally to be as a rasa Tabula, or Blank without any Impression, or distingui...

— Morgan, Thomas (d. 1743)

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Date: 1744

"Read and revere the sacred page; a page / Where triumphs Immortality; a page / Which not the whole creation could produce; / Which not the conflagration shall destroy; / In Nature's ruins not one letter lost: / 'Tis printed in the minds of gods for ever."

— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)

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Date: 1756

"But the Truth is, this unnatural Power corrupts both the Heart, and the Understanding. And to prevent the least Hope of Amendment, a King is ever surrounded by a Crowd of infamous Flatterers, who find their Account in keeping him from the least Light of Reason, till all Ideas of Rectitude and Ju...

— Burke, Edmund (1729-1797)

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The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.