Date: 1774
"Fancy throws out both the worthless earth and the rich ore; judgment, like a skilful refiner, distinguishes the one from the other, and purifies the gold contained in the latter, from the dross with which it is intermingled."
preview | full record— Gerard, Alexander (1728-1795)
Date: December 10, 1774; 1775
"The fire of the artist's own genius operating upon these materials which have been thus diligently collected, will enable him to make new combinations, perhaps, superior to what had ever before been in the possession of the Art. / / As in the mixture of the variety of metals, which are said to h...
preview | full record— Reynolds, Joshua (1723-1792)
Date: December 10, 1774; 1775
"He will pick up from dunghills what by a nice chymistry, passing through his own mind, shall be converted into pure gold; and, under the rudeness of Gothic essays, he will find original, rational, and even sublime inventions."
preview | full record— Reynolds, Joshua (1723-1792)
Date: 1777
"But though this inevitable alloy of weakness may frequently be found in the best characters, yet how can that be the source of triumph and exaltation to any, which, if properly weighed, must be the deepest motive of humiliation to all?"
preview | full record— More, Hannah (1745-1833)
Date: 1777
"To conclude; Genius is a rare and precious gem, of which few know the worth; it is fitter for the cabinet of the connoisseur, than for the commerce of mankind."
preview | full record— More, Hannah (1745-1833)
Date: w. 1755, 1777
"She [Nature] employs it [spiritual substance] as a kind of paste or clay; modifies it into a variety of forms and existences; dissolves after a time each modification, and from its substance erects a new form."
preview | full record— Hume, David (1711-1776)
Date: w. 1755, 1777
"And does any thing steel the breast of judges and juries against the sentiments of humanity but reflections on necessity and public interest?"
preview | full record— Hume, David (1711-1776)
Date: 1778
"Education, and good company are necesary to polish the mind----but can any education, or any company, convey a fine understanding, where it has not been given by nature?"
preview | full record— Caulfield (fl. 1778)
Date: 1779, 1781
"Truth indeed is always truth, and reason is always reason; they have an intrinsick and unalterable value, and constitute that intellectual gold which defies destruction: but gold may be so concealed in baser matter that only a chymist can recover it; sense may be so hidden in unrefined and plebe...
preview | full record— Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)
Date: 1780
"My Potter stamp on me thy clay, Thy only stamp of love!"
preview | full record— Wesley, John (1703-1791)