Date: 1722

"No Man can boast a God-like Mind, / From that Infernal Dross refin'd; / By Nature all are Base"

— Ward, Edward (1667-1731)

Date: 1759

"Their grief, however, like their joy, was transient; every thing floated in their mind unconnected with the past or future, so that one desire easily gave way to another, as a second stone cast into the water effaces and confounds the circles of the first."

— Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)

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)

Date: 1766

"We should then find that creatures, whose souls are held as dross, only wanted the hand of a refiner; we should then find that wretches, now stuck up for long tortures, lest luxury should feel a momentary pang, might, if properly treated, serve to sinew the state in times of danger."

— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)