Date: 1700

"We seldome use our Liberty aright, / Nor Judge of Things by Universal Light; / Our Prepossessions and Affections bind / The Soul in Chains, and Lord it o're the Mind."

— Pomfret, John (1667-1702)

Date: 1700

"Reason, 'tis true, shou'd over Sense Preside, / Correct our Notions, and our Judgment Guide; / But false Opinions, rooted in the Mind, / Hoodwink the Soul, and keep our Reason Blind."

— Pomfret, John (1667-1702)

Date: 1700

"Reason's a Taper, which but faintly burns, / A languid Flame that glows and dyes by Turns; / We see't a while, and but a little Way, / We Travel by its Light as Men by Day."

— Pomfret, John (1667-1702)

Date: 1700

"But quickly Dying, [reason] forsakes us soon, / Like Morning Stars, that never stay till Noon."

— Pomfret, John (1667-1702)

Date: 1700

"Better the Mind no Notions had retain'd, / But still a fair Unwritten Blank remain'd; / For now, who Truth from Falshood wou'd discern; / must first disrobe the Mind, and all Unlearn."

— Pomfret, John (1667-1702)

Date: 1700

The "Trading Mind" must voyage over an Ocean, but "Resisting Rocks oppose th' Inquiring Soul, / And adverse Waves retard it as they Rowl."

— Pomfret, John (1667-1702)

Date: 1701

"Search all the close recesses of the mind, / And leave no vice, no ruling passion there, / Nothing to raise a blush, or cause a fear; / Their memories with solid notions fill, / And let their reason dictate to their will."

— Chudleigh [née Lee], Mary, Lady Chudleigh (bap. 1656, d. 1710)

Date: 1702

Reason has a law that may be transgressed by vile wretches

— Pomfret, John (1667-1702)

Date: 1702

"They're not Love's Subjects, but the Slaves of Lust, / Nor is their Punishment so great, as just."

— Pomfret, John (1667-1702)

Date: 1702

'Tis Lust, (not Love) and Reason, that are Foes

— Pomfret, John (1667-1702)