Date: 1734

"It can frame new Ideas upon the model of old ones: as when we suppose a Person we have not seen, to resemble one we have seen; and when we frame an Idea of Constantinople from what we have seen of London, or perhaps but from a Map of London. This sort of coining is very often a forging."

— Forbes of Pitsligo, Alexander Forbes, Lord (1678-1762)

Date: 1734

"But as there is no fix'd Standard for most words, sometimes the Heart, and sometimes the Bowels, is made use of, to signify those Sentiments of Tenderness and Pity, and also the Seat of them; the Head being generally taken for the Seat of the Judgment, as well as for the Judgment it self."

— Forbes of Pitsligo, Alexander Forbes, Lord (1678-1762)

Date: 1734

"Mean-time the Body, which we study to soak in Pleasure like a Sponge, is of it self but a mere dead Husk, and drops off at last: and a Man reckons upon it no farther, than as a Machine for bringing him Pleasure, and would sometimes be content to change it for another Body, if he could, and does ...

— Forbes of Pitsligo, Alexander Forbes, Lord (1678-1762)

Date: 1734

"The Mind, or Understanding, is consider'd as a Principle of Light or Discerning; as the Senses and Affections are supposed to be blind."

— Forbes of Pitsligo, Alexander Forbes, Lord (1678-1762)

Date: 1734

"These three Operations of numbering, weighing, and measuring, seem to answer to the several Exercises of Reason; and so 'tis compared sometimes to a Ballance, sometimes to a Line."

— Forbes of Pitsligo, Alexander Forbes, Lord (1678-1762)

Date: 1734

"Reason then must fall into the grossest Mistakes, when it meddles in things beyond its Line, or out of its Sphere: in this case 'tis like an incompetent Judge, and the Conclusions must be absurd."

— Forbes of Pitsligo, Alexander Forbes, Lord (1678-1762)

Date: 1734

"Buchanan's Paraphrase on the seventy-third Psalm is very applicable to this purpose. It mistakes also in things within its Sphere, when it is imposed upon by the Affections, like a Judge that's corrupted."

— Forbes of Pitsligo, Alexander Forbes, Lord (1678-1762)

Date: 1734

"At present, we are supposing Reason to be entire, so far as it goes, without considering the narrowness of its Limits, nor the Clogs that are upon it, nor whether these Clogs are most owing to the Appetites or the Passions. All such Discussions are endless."

— Forbes of Pitsligo, Alexander Forbes, Lord (1678-1762)

Date: 1734

"Taking Reason therefore only for the natural Light of the Mind, we may well enough conclude, that natural Truths, or Principles, belong to it, as visible Objects belong to the Eye."

— Forbes of Pitsligo, Alexander Forbes, Lord (1678-1762)

Date: 1734

"Beside the advantage of a good Memory, as it serves for making a figure in Conversation, it is still valuable upon better Reasons; since it may be made a Storehouse of the most profitable and agreeable things."

— Forbes of Pitsligo, Alexander Forbes, Lord (1678-1762)