Date: 1760

"Upon this I mounted into the censorium of his brain, to learn from the spirit of consciousness, which you call self, the cause of so uncommon a change, as it is contrary to the fundamental rules of our order, ever to give up an heart of which we once get possession."

— Johnstone, Charles (c.1719-c.1800)

Date: 1760

"(I see you wonder, that I speak of this spirit [personified consciousness], though the self of a man, as if it was a female; but in this there is a mystery; every spirit is of both sexes, but as the female is the worthier with us, we take our denomination from that.)"

— Johnstone, Charles (c.1719-c.1800)

Date: 1760

"These first impressions are called ideas, which are lodged in this repository of the memory, in these marks, by running which over, I can raise the same ideas, when I please, which differ from their first appearance only in this, that, on their return, they come with the familiarity of a former ...

— Johnstone, Charles (c.1719-c.1800)

Date: 1760

"[W]e of superior orders, who animate this universal monarch Gold, have also a power of entering into the hearts of the immediate possessors of our bodies, and there reading all the secrets of their lives"

— Johnstone, Charles (c.1719-c.1800)

Date: 1760

"But though I lost the greatest part of my power over her, by coming into her possession, I still found ample room in her heart for my abode"

— Johnstone, Charles (c.1719-c.1800)

Date: 1760-7

"Thus conscience, this once able monitor,--placed on high as a judge within us, and intended by our Maker as a just and equitable one too,--by an unhappy train of causes and impediments, takes often such imperfect cognizance of what passes,--does its office so negligently,--sometimes so corruptly...

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1760-7

"Thus conscience, this once able monitor, --placed on high as a judge within us, and intended by our Maker as a just and equitable one too,--by an unhappy train of causes and impediments, takes often such imperfect cognizance of what passes,--does its office so negligently,--sometimes so corruptl...

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1760-7

"Blessed is the man whose heart hath not condemn'd him; whether he be rich, or whether he be poor, if he have a good heart (a heart thus guided and informed) he shall at all times rejoice in a chearful countenance; his mind shall tell him more than seven watch-men that sit above upon a tower on h...

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1760-7

"I call not upon that heart which is a stranger to the throbs and yearnings of curiosity"

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1760-7

"I mention this, not only as matter of hypothesis or conjecture upon the progress and establishment of my father's many odd opinions,--but as a warning to the learned reader against the indiscreet reception of such guests, who, after a free and undisturbed enterance, for some years, into our brai...

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)