Date: 1715
"But because this Notion of a Rasa Tabula will not agree with those, who are fond of some, I know not what, innate, speculative, and practical ideas; it will be necessary to consider the Instances they produce"
preview | full record— Lucretius Carus, Titus (94 B.C.- ca. 49 B.C.); Creech, Thomas (1659-1700)
Date: 1720
"For as in the Body Politick, the Prince, (whom Seneca calls the Soul of the Commonwealth.) receiveth no Passages of State, or false Ones, where there is Negligence, or Disability in those subjectate Inquirers, (whom Xenophon terms the Eyes and Ears of Kings.) In like Manner the Soul of Man being...
preview | full record— Hales, John (1584-1656)
Date: 1730
"Now, if such a complex being were in nature, how would that spiritual Soul act in that Body, that in its first Union with it (excepting some universal Principles) is a rasa Tabula, as a white Paper, without the Notices of Things written in it?"
preview | full record— Fénelon, François de Salignac de la Mothe (1651-1715); Anonymous
Date: 1731
"The Mind is a meer tabula rasa, originally without any Impression, Stamp or Character whatsoever, (unless we'll suppose it the same with Brutes) but capable of any, and most apt to receive the first that offers, till external Objects furnish it with distinct Ideas, and from thence ...
preview | full record— Anonymous
Date: 1742 [see first edition, 1733]
"The Mind, like a Tabula rasa, easyly receives the first Impression; and, like that, when the first Impression is deeply made, it with Difficulty admits of an Erasement of the first Characters, which in some Minds are indelible"
preview | full record— Cooke, Thomas (1703-1756)
Date: 1739
"YET I would not say with some, that the Soul is a meer Rasa Tabula; because I do not think that is a proper Metaphor in this Case."
preview | full record— Hancock, John (fl. 1739)
Date: January 1739
"Her enemy, therefore, is obliged to take shelter under her protection, and by making use of rational arguments to prove the fallaciousness and imbecility of reason, produces, in a manner, a patent under her hand and seal."
preview | full record— Hume, David (1711-1776)
Date: 1741
"In this, therefore, I am forced to differ from that great Philosopher and Master of Reason, Mr. Locke, who denies and argues against all innate Ideas in general, and of every Kind: He supposes the Soul originally to be as a rasa Tabula, or Blank without any Impression, or distingui...
preview | full record— Morgan, Thomas (d. 1743)
Date: 1744
"Read and revere the sacred page; a page / Where triumphs Immortality; a page / Which not the whole creation could produce; / Which not the conflagration shall destroy; / In Nature's ruins not one letter lost: / 'Tis printed in the minds of gods for ever."
preview | full record— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)
Date: 1756
"But the Truth is, this unnatural Power corrupts both the Heart, and the Understanding. And to prevent the least Hope of Amendment, a King is ever surrounded by a Crowd of infamous Flatterers, who find their Account in keeping him from the least Light of Reason, till all Ideas of Rectitude and Ju...
preview | full record— Burke, Edmund (1729-1797)