Date: Published serially, 1765-1770

"These ever apparent Ensigns of so dearly purchased Benefits shall inevitably attract the Wills of all Creatures, they shall cause all Hearts and Affections to rush and cleave to him, as Steel Dust rushes to Adamant, and as Spokes stick in the Nave whereon they are centred."

— Brooke, Henry (c. 1703-1783)

Date: 1766

"Altho' your brains are Lead, / These Quills, my Lads, will get you Bread"

— Lloyd, Evan (1734-1776)

Date: 1766

"Perhaps I may catch up even one from the gulph, and that will be great gain; for is there upon earth a gem so precious as the human soul?"

— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)

Date: 1766

"These are the marks which heav'n itself design'd, / The sterling standards of the human mind"

— Jemmat [née Yeo], Catherine (bap. 1714, d. 1766?)

Date: 1766

"I boast not iron ribs, nor heart of steel, / Raw is my flesh, and warm my blood to feel"

— Lloyd, Evan (1734-1776)

Date: 1766

"[I]t was a truth her reason could more easily perceive, than her heart feel, for it was steeled by habit"

— Scott [née Robinson], Sarah (1720-1795)

Date: 1766, 1806

"Let this pervade at length thy heart of steel; / Yet, yet return, nor blush, Oh man! to feel."

— Jerningham, Edward (1727-1812)

Date: 1766

"We should then find that creatures, whose souls are held as dross, only wanted the hand of a refiner; we should then find that wretches, now stuck up for long tortures, lest luxury should feel a momentary pang, might, if properly treated, serve to sinew the state in times of danger."

— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)

Date: 1766

"I know not whether the remark is to our honour or otherwise, that the lessons of wisdom have never such a power over us, as when they are wrought into the heart, through the ground-work of a story which engages the passions: Is it that we are like iron, and must first be heated before we can be ...

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1766

"And, with ten thousand fervent pray'rs, have strove / Thy iron heart, O ruthless death! to move."

— Woodhouse, James (bap. 1735, d. 1820)