Date: 1766

"Cecil is infinitely desirous that King James, as he favours him, should write the letter of satisfaction concerning 40 by the very next dispatch; for it should seem to me, by secret intimation from Cecil this afternoon, that the party is a little tickle, and like rasa tabula, that is, rea...

— Howard, Howard, Earl of Northampton (1540-1614)

Date: 1769

"Vain therefore, and entirely to be rejected, is that Principle published to the World, by a celebrated Philosopher of the last Century, namely, that the Soul in its first created State, has nothing in it, but is a mere Rasa Tabula, or blank Paper."

— Law, William (1686-1761)

Date: 1770

"That the mind of man, previous to the information of the senses, is a tabula rasa, a blank, without ideas, without knowledge, is a doctrine too well supported by this great master of reason to suffer a shock."

— Baker, William (1742-1785)

Date: 1771

"As the Wax would not be adequate to its business of Signature, had it not a Power to retain, as well as to receive; the same holds of the SOUL, with respect to Sense and Imagination."

— Harris, James (1709-1780)

Date: 1771

"For were that mind, what some suppose, a mere tabula rasa upon its first coming into the world, a pure and perfect blank, without one single impression; who can deny that it would be right, that it would be humane and wise, to make, in the earliest moments, those impressions upon it, whic...

— Dodd, William (1729-1777)

Date: 1773

"Though you are so happy as to have parents, who are both capable and desirous of giving you all proper instruction, yet I, who love you so tenderly, cannot help fondly wishing to contribute something, if possible, to your improvement and welfare: and, as I am so far separated from you, that it i...

— Mulso [later Chapone], Hester (1727-1801)

Date: 1773

"The great laws of morality are indeed written in our hearts, and may be discovered by reason: but our reason is of slow growth, very unequally dispensed to different persons, liable to error, and confined within very narrow limits in all."

— Mulso [later Chapone], Hester (1727-1801)

Date: 1773

"With respect to all these, the best direction that can be given is to fix on some periods or epochas, which, by being often mentioned and thought of, explained and referred to, will at last be so deeply engraven on the memory, that they will be ready to present themselves whenever you call for t...

— Mulso [later Chapone], Hester (1727-1801)

Date: December 10, 1774; 1775

"Invention is one of the great marks of genius; but if we consult experience, we shall find, that it is by being conversant with the inventions of others, that we learn to invent; as by reading the thoughts of others we learn to think."

— Reynolds, Joshua (1723-1792)

Date: 1775

"Intellect, as has he [Aristotle] had said before, was in CAPACITY, after a certain manner, the several Objects intelligible; but was in ACTUALITY no one of them, until it first comprehended it--and that it was the same with the Mind or HUMAN UNDERSTANDIN...

— Harris, James (1709-1780)