Date: 1779, 1781

"The diction, being the vehicle of the thoughts, first presents itself to the intellectual eye; and if the first appearance offends, a further knowledge is not often sought."

— Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)

Date: 1780

"Reason, (weak empress of the mind) / To passion had the helm consign'd"

— Steele, Anne (1717-1778)

Date: 1782

Complacency may breath a gentle gail over the thoughts and swell an "easy sail"

— Cowper, William (1731-1800)

Date: 1782

"It is, my dear M----, the same with the rest of our passions;--we have Reason given us for our rudder--Religion is our sheet anchor--our fixed star Hope--Conscience our faithful monitor--and Happiness the grand reward;--we all in this manner can preach up trite maxims."

— Sancho, Charles Ignatius (1729-1780)

Date: October, 1784

"Prudence through the ground of misery cuts a river of patience, where the Mind swims in boats of tranquillity along the streams of life, until she arrives at the haven of death, where all streams meet."

— Anonymous

Date: 1785

"The fluctuant mind, by various passions tost, / Now rides aloft, and now immerg'd, is lost"

— Perronet, Edward (1721-1792)

Date: 1786

"Nay, with every other person 'tis the same thing--If we are stuffed into a coach, with a little chattering pert Miss, "Oh dear, Mr. Anthony Euston, you must not ride backwards, here is room for you on this seat--and Mr. Euston, I know, will like one seat as well as another"--and then am...

— Inchbald [née Simpson], Elizabeth (1753-1821)

Date: 1788

"Our mind's unhelm'd, our attributes decay--"

— Williams, John [pseud. Anthony Pasquin] (1754-1818)

Date: 1786, 1787, 1788; 1789

"So poignant a mind in a vulgariz'd shell,/ Resembles a bucket of gold in a well; / 'Tis like Ceylon's best spice in a rude-fashion'd jar, / Or Comedy coop'd in a Dutch man of war."

— Williams, John [pseud. Anthony Pasquin] (1754-1818)

Date: 1789

"Then he assured me, that one sin unatoned for was as sufficient to damn a soul as one leak was to sink a ship."

— Equiano, Olaudah [Gustavus Vasa] (c. 1745-1797)