Date: 1693

"When Reason with her Robes ascends the Throne, / And wisely all my scatter'd Thoughts calls home, / The Messenger is so divine, / Unto her Laws I must resign."

— Hawkshaw, Benjamin (1671/2-1738)

Date: May 10, 1704

"Others of these professors, though agreeing in the main system, were yet more refined upon certain branches of it; and held that man was an animal compounded of two dresses, the natural and the celestial suit, which were the body and soul; that the soul was the outward, and the body the inward c...

— Swift, Jonathan (1667-1745)

Date: May 10, 1704

"To instance no more, is not religion a cloak, honesty a pair of shoes worn out in the dirt, self-love a surtout, vanity a shirt, and conscience a pair of breeches, which, though a cover for lewdness as well as nastiness, is easily slipped down for the service of both."

— Swift, Jonathan (1667-1745)

Date: Saturday, May 26, 1711

"When a Gentleman speaks Coarsly, he has dressed himself Clean to no purpose: The Cloathing of our Minds certainly ought to be regarded before that of our Bodies."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: Wednesday, April 30, 1712

"Lace and Drapery is as much a Man, as Wit and Turn is Passion."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: Friday, May 30, 1712

"To turn the Discourse, which from being witty grew to be malicious, the Matron of the Family took occasion, from the Subject, to wish that there were to be found amongst Men such faithful Monitors to dress the Mind by, as we consult to adorn the Body."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: 1713

"The Stoical Scheme of Supplying our Wants by lopping off our Desires, is like cutting off our Feet when we want Shoes."

— Swift, Jonathan (1667-1745)

Date: 1720

"Severity makes more Hypocrites than any Sort of Discipline; streight lacing the Body may make us good Shapes, but there's no streight lacing our Minds."

— Shadwell, Charles (fl. 1692-1720)

Date: 1722

"I met her this morning in a new manteau and petticoat, not a bit worse for her lady's wearing, and she has always new thoughts and new airs with new clothes."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: 1724

"In short, every thing we do, you construe to your own advantage: if we look easy and pleas'd in your Company, we are certainly in Love; if grave and reserv'd, 'tis to hide our Love; thus you all imagine we are fond of gaining a Conquest over a Heart, which when we have got it, is perhaps so very...

— Davys, Mary (1674-1732)