Date: 1744, 1753

"But David, altho' the Picture of what Valentine and Cynthia must feel, on hearing such News, was deeply imprinted in his Imagination, and made a strong Effort to subdue his Mind; yet did he preserve Steadiness enough to conquer his own Passions, to comfort his Camilla, and again to restore his l...

— Fielding, Sarah (1710-1768)

Date: 1744, 1772, 1795

"The hand of nature on peculiar minds / Imprints a different byass, and to each / Decrees its province in the common toil."

— Akenside, Mark (1720-1771)

Date: 1744, 1772, 1795

"More faithful keeps the graver's lively trace, / Than he whose birth the sister powers of art / Propitious view'd, and from his genial star / Shed influence to the seeds of fancy kind; / Than his attemper'd bosom must preserve / The seal of nature."

— Akenside, Mark (1720-1771)

Date: 1745

"O keep the dear impression on your breast, / Nor idly loose it for a wretched jest.

— Thomson, James (1700-1748)

Date: 1745

"The infant Mind is ductile like Wax; you may stamp a fair or ugly Impression upon it, Error or Knowledge, Indolence or Application, Virtue or Vice."

— Fordyce, David (bap. 1711, d. 1751)

Date: 1745

"The Idea of her lov'd Orsino presented itself to her distracted Imagination like an incens'd Lover to demand an Account of her Conduct: Which made such an Impression on her Mind, that she could scarce find Amusements for a few Hours, in all the Pleasures that surrounded her."

— Anonymous

Date: 1745

"Thus, a strange kind of cursed necessity / Brings down the sterling temper of his soul, / By base alloy, to bear the current stamp, / Below call'd Wisdom; sinks him into safety; / And brands him into credit with the world; / Where specious titles dignify disgrace, / And Nature's injuries are art...

— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)

Date: September 27, 1746

"My virtue shows what 'twas the gods design'd, / By chance on Africk's clay they stamp'd a Roman mind."

— Hervey, John, second Baron Hervey of Ickworth (1696-1743)

Date: 1746, 1753

"So, from injected thought, shoots passion's growth; / No sprout spontaneous, no chance child, of sloth: / Idea lends it root-- firm, on touch'd minds, / Fancy, (swift planter!) first, th' impression binds; / Shap'd in conception's mould, nature's prompt skill / Bids subject nerves obey th' inspi...

— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)

Date: 1746, 1753

"Previous to art's first act--(till then, all vain) / Print the ideal pathos, on the brain."

— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)