Date: 1710, 1797

"Reason, it is true, is dictator in the society of mankind; from her there ought to lie no appeal: but here we want a POPE in our philosophy, to be the infallible judge of what is, or is not reason."

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

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: 1713

"In a Glass-House, the Workmen often fling in a small quantity of fresh Coals, which seems to disturb the Fire, but very much enlivens it. This seems to allude to a gentle stirring of the Passions, that the Mind may not languish."

— Swift, Jonathan (1667-1745)

Date: 1715

"Why, Child, to have the Spirit of God which wrote that Word, print it in your Mind, and give you Understanding both to read and obey it."

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

Date: 1715

"The Child may be wrought upon; Nature like some Vegetables, is malleable when taken green and early; but hard and brittle when condens'd by Time and Age; at first it bows and bends to Instruction and Reproof, but afterwards obstinately refuses both."

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

Date: 1715

"The Temper of a Child misled by Vice or Mistake, like a dislocated Bone, is easie to be reduc'd into its Place, if taken in time; but if suffer'd to remain in its dislocated Position, a callous Substance fills up the empty Space, and by neglect grows equally hard with the Bone, and resisting the...

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

Date: 1715

"THEN as to Correction, the Heart being hardned, as before, by Opinion and Practice, and especially in a Belief that he ought not to be corrected, the Rod of Correction has a different Effect; for as the Blow of a Stripe makes an Impression on the Heart of a Child, as stamping a Seal does upon th...

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

Date: 1715

"How soft! how pliable the Minds of little Children are! how like Wax they lie, ready to be moulded into any Form, and receive any Impression, that the diligent Application of Parents thinks fit to make upon them!"

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

Date: 1715

"From whence also Parents are warned to be very careful, that by their Example or Negligence, those first softned Circumstances of their Childrens Minds are not pass'd over without suitable Applications, to forming them a right, filling them with Learning and Knowledge, and with just Principles, ...

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

Date: August 18, 1716; 1735

"If Momus’s project had taken, of having windows in our breasts, I should be for carrying it further, and making those windows casements: that while a man showed his heart to all the world, he might do something more for his friends, e’en take it out, and trust to their handling."

— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744)