Date: 1699

"'Tis thus, at last, that A MIND becomes a Wilderness; where all is laid waste, every thing fair and goodly remov'd, and nothing extant beside what is savage and deform'd."

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

Date: 1699

"In the same manner, the sensible and living Part, the Soul or Mind, wanting its proper and natural Exercise, is burden'd and diseas'd."

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

Date: 1699

"The parts and proportions of the mind, their mutual relation and dependency, the connection and frame of those passions which constitute the soul or temper, may easily be understoof by anyone who thinks it worth his while to study this inward anatomy."

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

Date: 1709

Understandings will rust if they are not polished by "a sort of amicable collision"

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

Date: 1709

"The only poison to reason is passion."

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

Date: 1710

Appetite is the "elder brother to Reason" and takes advantage in every contest of "drawing all to his own side"

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

Date: 1710

"And Will, so highly boasted, is at best merely a top or football between these two youngsters [Appetite and Reason], who prove very unfortunately matched, till the youngest, instead of now and then a kick or lash bestowed to little purpose, forsakes the ball or top itself and begins to lay about...

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

Date: 1710

"For it is well known we are not many of us like that Roman who wished for windows to his breast that all might be as conspicuous there as in his house, which, for that reason, he had built as open as was possible."

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

Date: 1710

"Thus I contend with Fancy and Opinion; and search the Mint and Foundery of imagination. For here the appetites and desires are fabricated. Hence they derive their privilege and currency. If I can stop the Mischief here, and prevent false coinage; I am safe."

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

Date: 1710

"You would wonder to hear how close he pushes matters and how thoroughly he carries on the business of self-dissection. By virtue of this soliloquy, he becomes two distinct persons. He is pupil and preceptor. He teaches and he learns."

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