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Date: 1719-1720, 1725

"Oh, Melliora! didst thou but know the thousandth Part of what this Moment I endure, the strong Convulsions of my warring Thoughts, thy Heart, steel'd as it is, and frosted round with Virtue, wou'd burst its icy Shield, and melt in Tears of Blood, to pity me."

— Haywood [née Fowler], Eliza (1693?-1756)

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Date: 1719-1720, 1725

"D'elmont, tho' he was a little startled to find her so much more Mistress of her Temper then he believ'd she could be, yet resolv'd to make all possible use of this Opportunity, which probably might be the last he shou'd ever have, look'd on her as she spoke, with Eyes so piercing, so sparkling ...

— Haywood [née Fowler], Eliza (1693?-1756)

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Date: 1719-1720, 1725

"Books were, as it were, Preparatives to Love, and by their softening Influence, melted the Soul, and made it fit for amorous Impressions."

— Haywood [née Fowler], Eliza (1693?-1756)

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Date: 1722

"My Temper was touch'd before, the wretched Boldness of Spirit, which I had acquir'd, abated, and conscious Guilt began to flow in my Mind."

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

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Date: 1722

"This honest friendly way of treating me, unlock'd all the Sluces of my Passions: He broke into my very Soul by it; and I unravell'd all the Wickedness of my Life to him: In a word, I gave him an Abridgement of this whole History."

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

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Date: 1724

"So possible is it for us to roll ourselves up in Wickedness, till we grow invulnerable by Conscience; and that Centinel once doz'd, sleeps fast, not to be awaken'd while the Tide of Pleasure continues to flow, or till something dark and dreadful brings us to ourselves again."

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

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Date: 1724

"These were the Original Springs, or Fountain-Head, from whence my Affectionate Thoughts were mov'd to assist this poor Woman."

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

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Date: 1736

"He saw the melting Passion display itself a thousand different ways; her shining Eyes swam in a Sea of Languor: her rosy Cheeks received a livelier and more fresh Vermillion."

— Haywood [née Fowler], Eliza (1693?-1756)

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Date: 1741 [1740]; continued in 1741

"She pours out all her Soul in [Soliloquies and little Reasonings] before her Parents without Disguise; so that one may judge of, nay, almost see, the inmost Recesses of her Mind"

— Richardson, Samuel (bap. 1689, d. 1761)

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Date: 1741 [1740]; continued in 1741

The mind may be a "pure clear Fountain of Truth and Innocence."

— Richardson, Samuel (bap. 1689, d. 1761)

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