Date: 1692

"'Tis to be believ'd that she who is always practising from her Birth her natural Property of applying her self to Evil, would be sure to take the worst of the two Urns that were plac'd by the Throne of Jove, and empty it all into her Bosom."

— Gildon, Charles (1665-1724)

Date: 1692

"The Seeds of Prudence which are sow'd in humane Minds, when they are scatter'd in Woman, are invested with a contrary Nature so corrupted, that they produce Fruits quite different from the Original."

— Gildon, Charles (1665-1724)

Date: 1692

"Shall only Honour then he conjoyn'd with the Body, and with an inferiour Body, as is that of a Worm, and to the imprisoning of a Gem so precious as that, in the mire and Dirt of a filthy Morasse."

— Gildon, Charles (1665-1724)

Date: 1692

"Nor would a man be willing always to be breaking his Brains to chain up the free will of his Wife, which, as some Opinions hold has a free dispensation from above."

— Gildon, Charles (1665-1724)

Date: 1692

"Our enticing Alurements are despised by Petrified Hearts, and impenetrable to the Impressions of amorous Passion. With Souls of Adamant they correspond with our Lives, encount'ring our Affections with peevish and wayward Scorn."

— Gildon, Charles (1665-1724)

Date: 1692

"He brought along with him a great Pormanteau full of Shadows and Chimera's, a present, usually sent to him, who having an empty Scull, builds Castles of imaginary Grandeur in the Air."

— Gildon, Charles (1665-1724)

Date: 1692

"He had a Box full of smoaky Thoughts, which drew tears from the Eyes of him that held his Nose over 'em. And this was said to be part of the Mind of some Grandee, who was always forming of Engines, to the prejudice of those that liv'd nere him."

— Gildon, Charles (1665-1724)

Date: 1692

"In like manner he thought some Ribs of Grashoppers would be acceptable to many, whose Brains are full of those skipping Animals, to cause a Spring in their own Meadows."

— Gildon, Charles (1665-1724)

Date: 1692

"Must a Man be forc'd to humble himself with a paltry Servility, even to Adoration, to be subject to Multiplicity of Cares, to weary his Mind in the Government of his Passions, and turmoil his Body with amorous Fatigues, and instead of a Reward for all this, shall he forc'd to purchase his Refres...

— Gildon, Charles (1665-1724)

Date: 1760-7

"That had said glass been there set up, nothing more would have been wanting, in order to have taken a man's character, but to have taken a chair and gone softly, as you would to a dioptrical bee-hive, and look'd in,--view'd the soul stark naked;--observ'd all her motions,--her machinations;--tra...

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)