Date: 1726

"As to the understanding, [Epicurus] believ'd, That at first it had no ideas; that it was a kind of tabula rasa; and that, when the organs of the body are form'd, its knowledge of things increases gradually by the mediation of the senses."

— Fénelon, François de Salignac de la Mothe (1651-1715); Anonymous

Date: 1730

"Now, if such a complex being were in nature, how would that spiritual Soul act in that Body, that in its first Union with it (excepting some universal Principles) is a rasa Tabula, as a white Paper, without the Notices of Things written in it?"

— Fénelon, François de Salignac de la Mothe (1651-1715); Anonymous

Date: January, 1730

"There are in all Souls, (not perfect Ideots,) as in the midst of clos'd-up flowers, some seeds of knowledge and science, which never disclose and shew themselves, till the quick'ning sunshine of learning and education open the understanding, and discover those hidden seeds of natural knowledge, ...

— Anonymous

Date: January, 1730

Those without education and proper instruction are exposed "from within, to sudden rashness, inconsideration and imprudence, to the mutinous rebellion of sensual inclinations aud passions."

— Anonymous

Date: January, 1730

"For the Soul, without the discipline of wisdom and instruction, is all hoisted up sail and sheet, and has no compass or rudder to sail by."

— Anonymous

Date: January, 1730

"Reason and prudence sit not at the helm, in such a mind, to guide and steer the vessel of its body; but wild fancy and imagination, irregular lust and passion, drive it on the destructive rocks of folly, vice and presumption."

— Anonymous

Date: 1731

"The Mind is a meer tabula rasa, originally without any Impression, Stamp or Character whatsoever, (unless we'll suppose it the same with Brutes) but capable of any, and most apt to receive the first that offers, till external Objects furnish it with distinct Ideas, and from thence ...

— Anonymous

Date: November, 1732

"Vulcan's Man ought to have had a Window in his Breast, to see what pass'd within."

— Anonymous

Date: 1741

"If the Mind be as it were a rasa tabula in respect of the one, the same Reasons make it extremely probable that she must be so in respect of the other likewise"

— Anonymous

Date: 1742

"But if the Soul was like a Tabula Rasa, or a fair Sheet of Paper, (as Mr L -- says) it would be no more capable of having Knowledge of any kind excited in it, than a Sheet of Paper can have Knowledge excited in it."

— Anonymous