Date: 1700

"Affliction, the sincerest Friend, the frankest Monitor, the best Instructer and indeed the only useful School that Women are ever put to, rouses her understanding, opens her Eyes, fixes her Attention, and diffuses such a Light, such a Joy into her Mind, as not only Informs her better, but Entert...

— Astell, Mary (1666–1731)

Date: 1700

"She will discern a time when her Sex shall be no bar to the best Employments, the highest Honor; a time when that distinction, now so much us'd to her Prejudice, shall be no more, but provided she is not wanting to her self, her Soul shall shine as bright as the greatest Heroe's."

— Astell, Mary (1666–1731)

Date: From Thursd. April 6. to Saturd. April 8. 1710

"It [the light of Elysium] pierces the thickest Bodies, in the same Manner as the Sun Beams pass through Chrystal: It strengthens the Sight instead of dazzling it; and nourishes in the most inward Recesses of the Mind, a perpetual Serenity that is not to be express'd."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: Saturday, September 22, 1711

"First, whether it acts with Steadiness and Uniformity in Sickness and in Health, in Prosperity and in Adversity; if otherwise, it is to be looked upon as nothing else but an Irradiation of the Mind from some new Supply of Spirits, or a more kindly Circulation of the Blood."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: Saturday, October 20, 1711

"It has been observed by some Writers, that Man is more distinguished from the Animal World by Devotion than by Reason, as several Brute Creatures discover in their Actions something like a faint Glimmering of Reason, though they betray in no single Circumstance of their Behaviour any Thing that ...

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: Saturday, October 20, 1711

"It is certain, the Propensity of the Mind to Religious Worship; the natural Tendency of the Soul to fly to some Superior Being for Succour in Dangers and Distresses, the Gratitude to an invisible Superintendent which rises in us upon receiving any extraordinary and unexpected good Fortune; the A...

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: Saturday, October 27, 1711

"Let him remove from my Mind, says Alcibiades, the Darkness, and what else he pleases, I am determined to refuse nothing he shall order me, whoever he is, so that I may become the better Man by it."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: Saturday, October 27, 1711

"However that may be, we find that this great Philosopher saw, by the Light of Reason, that it was suitable to the Goodness of the Divine Nature, to send a Person into the World who should instruct Mankind in the Duties of Religion, and, in particular, teach them how to Pray."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: Saturday, April 5, 1712

"He likewise is represented as discovering by the Light of Reason, that he and every thing about him must have been the Effect of some Being infinitely good and powerful, and that this Being had a right to his Worship and Adoration."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: Saturday, May 17, 1712

"Mirth is like a Flash of Lightning, that breaks thro a Gloom of Clouds, and glitters for a Moment; Chearfulness keeps up a kind of Day-light in the Mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual Serenity."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)