Date: 1665

"Which last Expression suits very well with the present case, since, when a pious Soul is once got upon the wing of Contemplation, she must descend and stoop to exchange her converse with Heavenly objects, for one with Earthly vanities, and much more must she debase and degrade her self, if the t...

— Boyle, Robert (1627-1691)

Date: 1665

"As Jonathan made those very things, whereby his Enemies, the Philistins, sought to intrap, or destroy him, Incouragements to fight with them, and Omens of his Victory over them. And as scarce any Time is so short, but that things so Agile, and asspiring as the Flames of a Devout Soul, may take a...

— Boyle, Robert (1627-1691)

Date: September 6, 1695; 1708

"Mr. Molyneux's ingenious Question, of which you gave me an Account at Mr. Lukey's Yesterday, has run so much in my Mind ever since, that I could scarce drive it out of my Thoughts."

— Synge, Edward (1659-1741)

Date: From Tuesd. Sept. 13. to Thursd. Sept. 15. 1709

"I have often reflected, that there is a great Similitude in the Motions of the Heart in Mirth and in Sorrow; and I think the usual Occasion of the latter, as well as the former, is something which is sudden and unexpected."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: From Thursd. Nov. 24 to Saturd. Nov. 26. 1709

"I Have been this Evening recollecting what Passages (since I could first think) have left the strongest Impressions upon my Mind; and after strict Enquiry, I am convinced, that the Impulses I have received from Theatrical Representations, have had a greater Effect, than otherwise would have been...

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: 1710, 1734

"For example, the will is termed the motion of the soul: this infuses a belief, that the mind of man is as a ball in motion, impelled and determined by the objects of sense, as necessarily as that is by the stroke of a racket."

— Berkeley, George (1685-1753)

Date: From Tuesday May 30. to Thursday June 1. 1710

"In a Word, the Beauties and the Charms of Nature and of Art court all my Faculties, refresh the Fibres of the Brain, and smooth every Avenue of Thought. What pleasing Meditations, what agreeable Wanderings of the Mind, and what delicious Slumbers, have I enjoyed here?"

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: Thursday, March 22, 1711

"At such a time the Mind of the Prosperous Man goes, as it were, abroad, among things without him, and is more exposed to the Malignity."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: Monday, April 28, 1712

"From hence my Thoughts took Occasion to ramble into the general Notion of Travelling, as it is now made a Part of Education."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: Monday, April 28, 1712

"This must certainly be a most charming Exercise to the Mind that is rightly turned for it."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)