Date: 1761, 1790
If the mind is corporeal it must be composed of infinite parts: "Which then can claim dominion o'er the rest, / Or stamp the ruling passion in the breast"
preview | full record— Jenyns, Soame (1704-1787); Browne, Isaac Hawkins (1706-1760)
Date: 1761, 1790
"This then's the first great law by Nature giv'n, / Stamp'd on our souls, and ratify'd by Heav'n"
preview | full record— Jenyns, Soame (1704-1787); Browne, Isaac Hawkins (1706-1760)
Date: 1761
The mind of the hearer might very well be a tabula rasa, free from every prejudice, and like soft wax, susceptible of every impression; and with all this, not yield to truth itself, proposed in the manner it is every day proposed, under the appearance of falsehood."
preview | full record— Batteaux, Charles (1713-1780)
Date: 1761
"The image of Eloisa, never to be erased from my mind, shall be my shield, and render my soul invulnerable."
preview | full record— Rousseau, Jean-Jacques (1712-1778); Kenrick, William (1729/30-1779)
Date: 1762
"Had the proud exile read my heart, / He then must have appeas'd the woes I suffer'd, / He then had pardon'd, and thou might'st have sooth'd me."
preview | full record— Cradock, Joseph (1742-1826)
Date: 1765
"That fruit thy covenant may yield, / Which is upon my forehead seal'd, / And on my heart ingraft."
preview | full record— Smart, Christopher (1722-1771)
Date: 1774, rev. 1787, 1779 in English
"But I had found it: I did find and know an exalted mind, which raised me beyond myself, and made me all that I am capable of being. All the powers of my soul were extended, and the deep sentiment which nature engraved on my heart, was unfolded."
preview | full record— Goethe, Johann Wolfgang (1749-1832)
Date: 1787
"That frequently happens; and when once a false idea is impressed, it is very difficult to erase it, particularly at your age; as you are not yet capable of distinguishing the false from the true."
preview | full record— Louise Florence Pétronille Tardieu d'Ésclavelles Épinay (marquise d') (1726-1783)
Date: 1787
"They converse not, they open not their mouths, they are silent, but they engrave their principles on the heart in indelible characters, instead of inconsistently crowding them on the memory."
preview | full record— Louise Florence Pétronille Tardieu d'Ésclavelles Épinay (marquise d') (1726-1783)
Date: 1788-89
"According to Mr. Locke, the soul is a mere rasa tabula, an empty recipient, a mechanical blank."
preview | full record— Taylor, Thomas (1758-1835)