Date: 1710

"And the prince of this latter tribe may be proved to have been a great frequenter of the wood and river banks, where he consumed abundance of his breath, suffered his fancy to evaporate, and reduced the vehemence both of his spirit and voice."

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

Date: February 1792

"It appears as if the tide of mental faculties flowed as far as it could in certain channels, and then forsook its course, and arose in others. How irrational then is the hereditary system, which establishes channels of power, in company with which wisdom refuses to flow!"

— Paine, Thomas (1737-1809)

Date: 1793

"The most palpable of all classes of knowledge is that I am, personally considered, but an atom in the ocean of mind."

— Godwin, William (1756-1836)