Date: 1730

"When a man thinks of any thing in the darkness of the night, whatever deep impressions it may make in his mind, they are apt to vanish as soon as the day breaks about him. The light and noise of the day, which are perpetually solliciting his senses, and calling off his attention, wear out of his...

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: 1730

"In compassion to those gloomy mortals, who by their unbelief are rendered incapable of feeling those impressions of joy and hope, which the celebration of the late glorious Easter festival naturally leaves on the mind of a Christian, I shall in this paper endeavour to evince that there are groun...

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: 1730

"Were I able to dress up several thoughts of a serious nature, which have made great impressions on my mind during a long fit of sickness, they might not be an improper entertainment for that occasion."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: 1730

"The gracious Author of our Being hath therefore so formed us, that we are capable of many pleasing sensations and reflections, and meet with so many amusements and solicitudes, as divert our thoughts from dwelling upon an evil, which by reason of its seeming distance, makes but languid impressio...

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: 1732

"My Sight, will keep her in my Mind, / Preserve the deep Impression made,"

— Mitchell, Joseph (c. 1684-1738)

Date: 1735

"Come, gentle Sleep, my Eye-lids close, / These dull Impressions help me lose:"

— Hughes, John (1678?-1720)

Date: 1740

"This Work, I say, shall not only contain the various Impressions of my Mind, (as in Louis the Fourteenth his Cabinet you have seen the growing Medals of his Person from Infancy to Old Age,) but shall likewise include with them the Theatrical History of my Own Time, from my first Appearance on th...

— Cibber, Colley (1671-1757)

Date: 1748

"But should some swain more skillful than the rest, / his name on this cold marble breast, / Not rolling ages could deface that name."

— Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley [née Lady Mary Pierrepont] (1689-1762)

Date: w. 1740, 1748

"But when your early Care shall have design'd / To plan the Soul and mould the waxen Mind; / When you shall pour upon his tender Breast / Ideas that must stand an Age's Test, / Oh! there imprint with strongest deepest dye / The lovely form of Goddess LIBERTY!"

— Walpole, Horatio [Horace], fourth earl of Orford (1717-1797)

Date: 1751

"But whatever may be the physical cause, one thing is evident, that this aptitude of the mind of man, to receive impressions from feigned, as well as from real objects, contributes to the noblest purposes of life."

— Home, Henry, Lord Kames (1696-1782)