Date: 1763

"But fancy's pictures float upon the brain."

— Sheridan [née Chamberlaine], Frances (1724-1766)

Date: 1767

"A holy ardor was kindled in his breast, which he had never felt before; he found his faculties enlarged, his mind was transported above this world; he felt as it were unimbodied, and an involuntary adjuration burst from his lips."

— Sheridan [née Chamberlaine], Frances (1724-1766)

Date: 1768

"Psha! said I with an air of carelessness, three several times--but it would not do: every ungracious syllable I had utter'd, crouded back into my imagination."

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1768

"When my way is too rough for my feet, or too steep for my strength, I get off it, to some smooth velvet path which fancy has scattered over with rose-buds of delights; and having taken a few turns in it, come back strengthen'd and refresh'd."

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1768

"Dear sensibility! source inexhausted of all that's precious in our joys, or costly in our sorrows! thou chainest thy martyr down upon his bed of straw--and 'tis thou who lifts him up to Heaven--eternal fountain of our feelings!--'tis here I trace thee--and this is thy divinity which stirs within...

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1768

"The old man rose up to meet me, and with a respectful cordiality would have me sit down at the table; my heart was sat down the moment I enter'd the room; so I sat down at once like a son of the family."

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1776

"A thousand disagreeable images rushed on my imagination, in that instant, I crushed their growth, and talked of India, of my other sisters, Lucy, and Mrs. Selwyn, and of you also, till we were summoned to the saloon, where supper was prepared for me."

— Griffith, Elizabeth (1720-1793)

Date: 1776

"Indeed, I fear Sir James is posting to destruction; the company he keeps must sink his mind as well as his fortune."

— Griffith, Elizabeth (1720-1793)

Date: 1776

"The beautiful and sublime are here mingled in the superlative degree; the great Creator's works, unspoiled by art, rush on the mind, and fill it with delight and awe."

— Griffith, Elizabeth (1720-1793)

Date: 1776

"Long has the idea wandered through my mind--Long have I languished for that peaceful haven, in which this tempest-beaten bark can only anchor."

— Griffith, Elizabeth (1720-1793)