Date: 1765

"Imagination is a Ray of Divinity, the Senses contribute nothing to its Operation; it does all, has all within itself, nor can even Reason either add or diminish its Power."

— Anonymous

Date: 1766

"We talked of the pleasures of temperance, and of the sun-shine in the mind unpolluted with guilt."

— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)

Date: 1766

"Faction's torch of sulphurous gleam / Shall fire the heart that feels not Fancy's beam."

— Beattie, James (1735-1803)

Date: 1766

"The 'wise' man, makes use of those means, that are most proper for his purpose; he conducts himself, by the light of reason."

— Trusler, John (1735-1820)

Date: 1766

"'Infatuation' acts so strongly, as in some measure, to take away that reason, which is the light of the mind; and thus darkening it, leads a man into the grossest errors."

— Trusler, John (1735-1820)

Date: December 9-11, 1766

"Fair truth shall chase th' unreal Forms away; / And Reason's piercing Beam restore the Day."

— Anonymous

Date: 1767, 1784

"But if foul Passion, or distemper'd Pride, / Impede its search, or Phrenzy seize the brain, / Then Ignorance a gloomy darkness spreads, / Or Superstition, with mishapen forms, / Erects its savage empire in the mind."

— Jago, Richard (1715-1781)

Date: 1767

"This difference must certainly proceed from the transforming power of Imagination, whose rays illuminate the objects we contemplate; and which, without the lustre shed on them by this faculty, would appear unornamented and undistinguished."

— Duff, William (1732-1815)

Date: 1767

"Or, to set the difference betwixt philosophic and poetic Imagination in another light by the use of an image, we may observe, that in the mind of the Philosopher the RAYS of fancy are more COLLECTED, and more CONCENTRATED in one point; and consequently are more favourable to ACCURATE and DISTINC...

— Duff, William (1732-1815)

Date: 1767

"An original Author indeed will frequently be apt to exceed in the use of this ornament, by pouring forth such a blaze of imagery, as to dazzle and overpower the mental sight; the effect of which is, that his Writings become obscure, if not unintelligible to common Readers; just as the eye is for...

— Duff, William (1732-1815)