Date: 1760-1761, 1762

"A mind too vigorous and active, serves only to consume the body to which it is joined, as the richest jewels are soonest found to wear their settings."

— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)

Date: 1764

"Against ev'ry virtue the bosom to steel, / And only of dress the anxieties feel"

— Murphy, Arthur (1727-1805)

Date: 1764

"Shall the winged Inhabitants of Air come tamely to the Hand that feeds them; and shall Man steel his Heart against all Impressions of Kindness, and all Sentiments of GRATITUDE?"

— Gentleman, Francis (1728-1784)

Date: 1764

"Bold was the man, and fenc'd in ev'ry part /With oak, and ten-fold brass about the heart, / To build a play who tortur'd first his brain, / And then dar'd launch it on this stormy main."

— Murphy, Arthur (1727-1805)

Date: Published serially, 1765-1770

"O, my Sister, I would to Heaven that he had now been present, as I have been present, to have his Soul melted and minted as mine has been"

— Brooke, Henry (c. 1703-1783)

Date: Published serially, 1765-1770

"[H]is Heart must have been harder than the Stones of Thebes, if you did not attract it and move it, at pleasure, by the Touch of those Fingers and the Bewitchment of those Accents"

— Brooke, Henry (c. 1703-1783)

Date: Published serially, 1765-1770

"I was melted down and minted anew, as it were, by the unaffected Warmth and Innocence of your Caresses"

— Brooke, Henry (c. 1703-1783)

Date: Published serially, 1765-1770

"Heart must be wrung by many Engines, it shall be tried in many Fires, but I trust it is a golden Heart, and will come forth with all its Weight"

— Brooke, Henry (c. 1703-1783)

Date: Published serially, 1765-1770

"These ever apparent Ensigns of so dearly purchased Benefits shall inevitably attract the Wills of all Creatures, they shall cause all Hearts and Affections to rush and cleave to him, as Steel Dust rushes to Adamant, and as Spokes stick in the Nave whereon they are centred."

— Brooke, Henry (c. 1703-1783)

Date: 1766

"Perhaps I may catch up even one from the gulph, and that will be great gain; for is there upon earth a gem so precious as the human soul?"

— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)