Date: 1690, 1694, 1695, 1700, 1706

"Syllogism, at best, is but the Art of fencing with the little Knowledge we have, without making any Addition to it: And if a Man should employ his Reason all this way, he will not doe much otherwise than he, who having got some Iron out of the Bowels of the Earth, should have it beaten up all in...

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

Date: 1690, 1694, 1695, 1700, 1706

"Had the King of Spain imploy'd the Hands of his People, and his Spanish Iron so, he had brought to Light but little of that Treasure, that lay so long hid in the dark Entrails of America. And I am apt to think, that he who shall employ all the force of his Reason only ...

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

Date: 1691

"Thirdly, Let us hence duly learn to prize and value our Souls; is the Body such a rare Piece, what this is the Soul? the Body is but the Husk or Shell, the Soul is the Kernel; the Body is but the Cask, the Soul the precious Liquor contained in it; the Body is but the Cabinet; the Soul the Jewel;...

— Ray [formerly Wray], John (1627–1705)

Date: 1691

"And besides who knows but the Same Observation may hold true in Men, which is in Metals, That those of the strongest and noblest Substance, are hardest to be Polisht."

— Blount, Thomas Pope, Sir (1649-1697)

Date: 1693

"An impression made on Bees-wax or Lead will not last so long as on Brass or Steel. Indeed, if it be renew'd often, it may last the longer; but every new reflecting on it is a new impression, and 'tis from thence one is to reckon, if one would know how long the Mind reteins it"

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

Date: 1693

"But the learning Pages of Latin by heart, no more fits the Memory for Retention of any thing else, than the graving of one Sentence in Lead makes it the more capable of retaining firmly any other Characters. "

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

Date: 1697

"The Soul is placed in the Body like a rough Diamond and must be polish'd, or the lustre of it will never appear."

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

Date: 1699

"We suppose these original [or Natural] Impressions to be like Gold in the Oar, that may be refin'd; or rough Diamonds, that by polishing, receive a further lustre"

— Burnet, Thomas (c.1635-1715)

Date: April 26, 1695; 1708

"Meditating by one's self is like digging in the Mine; it often, perhaps, brings up maiden Earth, which never came near the Light before; but whether it contain any Metal in it, is never so well tried as in Conversation with a knowing judicious Friend, who carries about him the true Touch-stone, ...

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

Date: 1709, 1714

"We polish one another, and rub off our Corners and rough Sides by a sort of amicable Collision. To restrain this, is inevitably to bring a Rust upon Mens Understandings."

— Cooper, Anthony Ashley, third earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713)