Date: 1659

"Not that the Plastick virtue, awakened by the Imperium of her Will, shall renew all the lineaments it did in this Earthly Body (for abundance of them are useless and to no purpose, which therefore, Providence so ordaining, will be silent in this aiery figuration, and onely such operate as are fi...

— More, Henry (1614-1687)

Date: 1704

"From thence the Taylor and the Parson join'd, / To cloath his naked Body and his Mind; / The Taylor only form'd the outward Sign, / To shew what sort of Creature liv'd within; / The Priest amaz'd him in his Mystick School, / Turn'd his Head round, and made him Knave and Fool."

— Anonymous

Date: 1716

"We are gratify'd to see an unexpected Idea presented to our Understanding, and wonder at the beautiful Conjunction of Notions so separate and remote before; and whatever is marvellous is delightful too; as we always feel a Pleasure at the sight of Foreigners and their Garments, so the Mind rejoi...

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)

Date: 1831

In poetry we are "privileged occasionally to cast away the slough and exuviæ of the body from incumbering and dishonouring us, even as Ulysses passed over his threshold, stripped of the rags that had obscured him, while Minerva enlarged his frame, and gave loftiness to his stature, a...

— Godwin, William (1756-1836)

Date: 1831

"Familiar as [Shakespeare] was with the evanescent touches of mind en dishabille, and in its innermost feelings, he could not sustain the tone of a character, penetrated with a divine enthusiasm, or fervently devoted to a generous cause, though this is truly within the compass of our nature."

— Godwin, William (1756-1836)

Date: September 10, 1836

"Hundreds of writers may be found in every long-civilized nation, who for a short time believe, and make others believe, that they see and utter truths, who do not of themselves clothe one thought in its natural garment, but who feed unconsciously on the language created by the primary writers of...

— Emerson, Ralph Waldo (1803-1882)