Date: 1719-1720, 1725

"But when he consider'd how much he had struggled, and how far he had been from being able to repel Desire, he began to wonder that it cou'd ever enter into his Thoughts, that there was even a Possibility for Woman, so much stronger in her Fancy, and weaker in her Judgment, to suppress the Influe...

— Haywood [née Fowler], Eliza (1693?-1756)

Date: 1760-7

"A man and his HOBBY-HORSE, tho' I cannot say that they act and re-act exactly after the same manner in which the soul and body do upon each other: Yet doubtless there is a communication between them of some kind, and my opinion rather is, that there is something in it more of the manner of elect...

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1760-7

"The more my uncle Toby pored over his map, the more he took a liking to it;--by the same process and electrical assimilation, as I told you, thro' which I ween the souls of connoisseurs themselves, by long friction and incumbition, have the happiness, at length, to get all be-virtu'd,--...

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1763

"The heart of a woman does, I imagine, naturally gravitate towards a handsome, well-dressed, well-bred fellow, without enquiry into his mental qualities."

— Brooke [née Moore], Frances (bap. 1724, d. 1789)

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: 1777

"My father did not then perceive this; it was not till he waited on Montauban, that the force of it struck his mind."

— Mackenzie, Henry (1745-1831)

Date: 1777

"If they say, that affection is a mere involuntary impulse, neither waiting the decisions of reason, or the dissuasive of prudence, do they not in reality degrade us to machines, which are blindly actuated by some uncontrollable power?"

— Mackenzie, Henry (1745-1831)

Date: 1778, 1779

"Far be it from me," said Lord Orville, "to dispute the magnetic power of beauty, which irresistibly draws and attracts whatever has soul and sympathy."

— Burney [married name D'Arblay], Frances (1752-1840)

Date: 1790

"If her heart was not quite at peace, its exquisite sensibility was corrected by the influence of reason; as the quivering needle, though subject to some variations, still tends to one fixed point."

— Williams, Helen Maria (1759-1827)

Date: 1791, 1794

"The name, like a sudden spark of electric fire, seemed for a moment to suspend his faculties--for a moment he was transfixed; but recovering, he caught Belcour's hand, and cried--'Stop! stop! I beseech you, name not the lovely Julia and the wretched Montraville in the same breath."

— Rowson, Susanna (1762-1828)