Date: 1697

"But tho I must always acknowledg to that justly admir'd Gentleman, the great Obligation of my first Deliverance from the unintelligible way of talking of the Philosophy in use in the Schools in his time, yet I am so far from entitling his Writings to any of the Errors or Imperfections which are ...

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

Date: May 16, 1699

"All others have a right to be followed as far as I, i.e. as far as the evidence of what they say convinces; and of that my own understanding alone must be judge for me, and nothing else."

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

Date: 1699

"I justified my use of the word Spirit in that Sense from the Authorities of Cicero and Virgil, applying the Latin word Spiritus, from whence Spirit is derived, to the Soul as a thinking Thing, without excluding Materiality out of it. To which your Lordship replies,*That Cicero, in his Tusculan Q...

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

Date: September 20, 1692; 1708

"There are Beauties of the Mind, as well as of the Body, that take and prevail at first sight: And where-ever I have met with this, I have readily surrendered my self, and have never yet been deceiv'd in my Expectation."

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

Date: April 26, 1695; 1708

"Meditating by one's self is like digging in the Mine; it often, perhaps, brings up maiden Earth, which never came near the Light before; but whether it contain any Metal in it, is never so well tried as in Conversation with a knowing judicious Friend, who carries about him the true Touch-stone, ...

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

Date: March 30, 1696; 1708

"Nay, I so far incline to comply with your Desires, that I every now and then lay by some Materials for it, as they occasionally occur in the Rovings of my Mind."

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

Date: June 15, 1697; 1708

"Do but think then what a Pleasure, what an Advantage it would be to me, to have you by me, who have so much Thought, so much Clearness, so much Penetration, all directed to the same Aim which I propose to my self, in all the Ramblings of my Mind."

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

Date: April 6, 1698; 1708

"I hop'd therefore, as I said, to have seen you, and unravel'd to you that which lying in the Lump unexplicated in my Mind, I scarce yet know what it is my self; for I have often had Experience that a Man cannot well judge of his own Notions, till either by setting them down in Paper, or in disco...

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

Date: January 20, 1692/3; 1708

"But I perfectly agree with you concerning general Theories, that they are for the most part but a sort of waking Dreams, with which, when Men have warm'd their own Heads, they pass into unquestionable Truths, and then the ignorant World must be set right by them."

— Locke, John (1632-1704)

Date: January 25, 1698/9; 1708

"But the Truth is, my Thoughts never look towards Dublin now, without casting such a Cloud upon my Mind, and laying such a Load of fresh Sorrow on me for the Loss of my dear Friend, your Brother, that I cannot without Displeasure turn them that Way; and when I do it I find my self very unfit for ...

— Locke, John (1632-1704)