Date: 1674

"Secondly it seem'd to me no less unconceivable, whence that dismal ψυχομαχια or intestin war which every Man too frequently feels within himself, and whereof even St. Paul himself so sadly complained, when (in Epist. ad Roman. cap. 3.) he cries out, video aliam legem in membris meis repugnantem ...

— Charleton, Walter (1620-1707)

Date: 1674

"What then can remain to cause this dire war daily observed within us, betwixt the allurements of our Sense, on one side, and the grave dictates of our Mind, on the other; but two distinct Agents, the Rational Soul and the Sensitive, coexistent within us, and hotly contending about the conduct of...

— Charleton, Walter (1620-1707)

Date: 1686, 1689, 1697

"What Struglings and Conflicts are there betwixt the Animal Inclinations, and the more masculine Dictates of Reason?"

— Nourse, Timothy (c.1636–1699)

Date: 1711

"While Passions in their Breasts ungovern'd rage, / Distract the Mind, and War intestine wage, / Reason divine from her high Throne descends, / Lays by her Scepter, and her Pow'r suspends."

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)

Date: January 1739

"Here then is the only expedient, from which we can hope for success in our philosophical researches, to leave the tedious lingering method, which we have hitherto followed, and instead of taking now and then a castle or village on the frontier, to march up directly to the capital or center of th...

— Hume, David (1711-1776)

Date: January 1739

"Nothing is more usual in philosophy, and even in common life, than to talk of the combat of passion and reason, to give the preference to reason, and assert that men are only so far virtuous as they conform themselves to its dictates."

— Hume, David (1711-1776)

Date: January 1739

"We speak not strictly and philosophically, when we talk of the combat of passion and of reason."

— Hume, David (1711-1776)

Date: 1744

""Reason with Inclination why at war? / Why sense of guilt? Why Conscience up in arms?"

— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)

Date: 1754

Two charming maids may be "By nature form'd to conquer hearts"

— Jeffreys, George (1678-1755)

Date: 1756

"They have inlisted Reason to fight against itself, and employ it's whole Force to prove that it is an insufficient Guide to them in the Conduct of their Lives."

— Burke, Edmund (1729-1797)