Date: 1712, 1796

"What home-bred mischief on himself could fall, / Which could a worthy mind more deeply gall?"

— Ellwood, Thomas (1639-1713)

Date: 1712, 1796

"Unsteady nature, varying like the wind, / Hurries to each extreme th'unstable mind; / At sea becalm'd, we wish some brisker gales / Would on us rise, and fill our limber sails: / We have our wish; and straight our skiff is toss'd / So high, we are in danger to be lost."

— Ellwood, Thomas (1639-1713)

Date: Friday, November 28, 1712

"Every one has in him a natural Alloy, tho' one may be fuller of Dross than another: For this reason I cannot think it right to introduce a perfect or a faultless Man upon the Stage; not only because such a Character is improper to move Compassion, but because there is no such a thing in Nature."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: Friday, November 28, 1712

"Such an Example corrects the Insolence of Human Nature, softens the Mind of the Beholder with Sentiments of Pity and Compassion, comforts him under his own private Affliction, and teaches him not to judge Mens Virtues by their Successes."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: Tuesday, February 12, 1712

"In the same manner a Representation of those Calamities and Misfortunes which a weak Man suffers from wrong Measures, and ill-concerted Schemes of Life, is apt to make a deeper Impression upon our Minds, than the wisest Maxims and Instructions that can be given us, for avoiding the like Follies ...

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: Saturday, February 16, 1712

"The Resemblance does not, perhaps, last above a Line or two, but the Poet runs on with the Hint till he has raised out of it some glorious Image or Sentiment, proper to inflame the Mind of the Reader, and to give it that sublime kind of Entertainment, which is suitable to the Nature of an Heroic...

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: Saturday, February 23, 1712

"This Episode of the fallen Spirits, and their Place of Habitation, comes in very happily to unbend the Mind of the Reader from its Attention to the Debate."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: Monday, March 3, 1712

"I can stifle any violent Inclination, and oppose a Torrent of Anger, or the Sollicitations of Revenge, with Success. But Indolence is a Stream which flows slowly on, but yet undermines the Foundation of every Virtue."

— Hughes, John (1678?-1720)

Date: Monday, March 3, 1712

"A Vice of a more lively Nature were a more desirable Tyrant than this Rust of the Mind, which gives a Tincture of its Nature to every Action of ones Life."

— Hughes, John (1678?-1720)

Date: Monday, March 3, 1712

"It were as little Hazard to be lost in a Storm, as to lye thus perpetually becalmed: And it is to no Purpose to have within one the Seeds of a thousand good Qualities, if we want the Vigour and Resolution necessary for the exerting them."

— Hughes, John (1678?-1720)