Date: 1701

"Man is a Creature of so mixed a Composure, and of a Frame so inconsistent and different from Itself, that it easily speaks his Affinity to the highest and meanest Beings; that is to say, he is made of Body and Soul, he is at once an Engine and an Engineer."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: 1709, 1714

"'Tis hard, that in the Plan or Description of this Clock-work, no Wheel or Ballance shou'd be allow'd on the side of the better and more enlarg'd Affections; that nothing shou'd be understood to be done in Kindness or Generosity; nothing in pure good-Nature or Friendship , or thro any social or ...

— Cooper, Anthony Ashley, third earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713)

Date: 1709, 1714

"They wou'd new frame the Human Heart; and have a mighty Fancy to reduce all its Motions, Ballances and Weights, to that one Principle and Foundation of a cool and deliberate Selfishness."

— Cooper, Anthony Ashley, third earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713)

Date: 1710, 1714

"Shou'd a Philosopher, after the same manner [as a visitor to a Watchmaker's Shop], employing himself in the Study of human Nature, discover only, what Effects each Passion wrought upon the Body; what change of Aspect or Feature they produc'd; and in what different manner they affected the Limbs ...

— Cooper, Anthony Ashley, third earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713)

Date: From Thursday July 13. to Saturday July 15. 1710

"Her Air discovered her Body a meer Machine of her Mind, and not that her Thoughts were employed in studying Graces and Attractions for her Person."

— Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Date: Thursday, July 12, 1711

"I consider the Body as a System of Tubes and Glands, or to use a more Rustick Phrase, a Bundle of Pipes and Strainers, fitted to one another after so wonderful a Manner as to make a proper Engine for the Soul to work with."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: 1712

"See, how resistless Orators perswade, / Draw out their Forces, and the Heart invade: / Touch ev'ry Spring and Movement of the Soul, / This Appetite excite, and That controul."

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)

Date: 1712

"What Philosophic Builder will essay / By Rules Mechanic to unfold the way / How a Machine must be dispos'd to think, / Ideas how to frame, and how to link?"

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)

Date: 1712

Lucretius and Epicurus are asked, "How to the Mind a Thought reflected goes, / And how the conscious Engine knows it Knows."

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)

Date: 1712

"Tell us, Lucretius, Epicurus, tell, / And you in Wit unrival'd shall excel, / How thro' the outward Sense the Object flies, / How in the Soul her Images arise. / What Thinking, what Perception is, explain; / What all the airy Creatures of the Brain; / How to the Mind a Thought reflected goes, / ...

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)