Date: 1760-1761, 1762

"Should some unexpected turn of fortune take thee from fetters, and place thee on a throne, exultation would be natural upon the change; but the temper, like the face, would soon resume its native serenity."

— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)

Date: 1760-1761, 1762

"But of all the wonders of the east, the most useful, and I should fancy, the most pleasing, would be the looking-glass of Lao, which reflects the mind as well as the body."

— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)

Date: 1760-1761, 1762

"So it was with the lady in question; she had never seen her own mind before, and was now shocked at its deformity."

— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)

Date: 1760-1761, 1762

"Upon her dismission a lady of distinction was reluctantly hawled along to the glass by her husband; in bringing her forward, as he came first to the glass himself, his mind appeared tinctured with immoderate jealousy, and I was going to reproach him for using her with such severity; but when the...

— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)

Date: 1760-1761, 1762

"Upon approaching the glass, I could readily perceive vanity, affectation, and some other ill-looking blots on her mind; wherefore by my advice she immediately set about mending."

— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)

Date: 1760-1761, 1762

"Thus saying, she retired with a sullen satisfaction, resolved not to mend her faults, but to write a criticism on the mental reflector."

— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)

Date: 1760-1761, 1762

"I must own, by this time I began myself to suspect the fidelity of my mirror; for as the ladies appeared at least to have the merit of rising early, since they were up at five, I was amazed to find nothing of this good quality pictured upon their minds in the reflection; I was resolved therefore...

— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)

Date: 1760-1761, 1762

"Here it was that I exulted in my success; no blot, no stain, appeared on any part of the faithful mirror. As when the large, unwritten page presents its snowy spotless bosom to the writer's hand; so appeared the glass to my view."

— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)

Date: 1760-1761, 1762

"YOUR last letters betray a mind seemingly fond of wisdom, yet tempested up by a thousand various passions."

— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)

Date: 1760-1761, 1762

"You would fondly persuade me that my former lessons still influence your conduct, and yet your mind seems not less enslaved than your body."

— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)