Date: May 10, 1704

"But when a man's fancy gets astride his reason, when imagination is at cuffs with the senses, and common understanding as well as common sense, is kicked out of doors; the first proselyte he makes is himself, and when that is once compassed the difficulty is not so great in bringing over others,...

— Swift, Jonathan (1667-1745)

Date: 1759

"He then communicated the various precepts given from time to time for the conquest of passion, and displayed the happiness of those who had obtained the important victory, after which man is no longer the slave of fear, nor the fool of hope; is no more emaciated by envy, inflamed by anger, emasc...

— Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)

Date: 1777

"The love, to which at length I discovered my heart to be subject, had conquered without tumult, and become despotic under the semblance of freedom."

— Mackenzie, Henry (1745-1831)

Date: 1777

Attempts at gaiety may look like "a conquest over the natural pensiveness of [the] mind"

— Mackenzie, Henry (1745-1831)