Date: 1724

"[S]o with my Eyes open, and with my Conscience, as I may say, awake, I sinn'd, knowing it to be a Sin, but having no Power to resist; when this had thus made a Hole in my Heart, and I was come to such a height, as to transgress against the Light of my own Conscience, I was then fit for any Wicke...

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

Date: 1724

"This was a dreadful Blow to me; tho' I cannot say I was so surpriz'd as I should otherwise have been; for all the while he was gone, my Mind was oppress'd with the Weight of my own Thoughts; and I was as sure that I should never see him any more, that I think nothing could be like it; the Impres...

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

Date: 1724

"So possible is it for us to roll ourselves up in Wickedness, till we grow invulnerable by Conscience; and that Centinel once doz'd, sleeps fast, not to be awaken'd while the Tide of Pleasure continues to flow, or till something dark and dreadful brings us to ourselves again."

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

Date: 1724

"I have, I confess, wonder'd at the Stupidity that my intellectual Part was under all that while; what Lethargick Fumes doz'd the Soul."

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

Date: 1724

"I say, it wore off gradually; and as I had a pretty deal of Business for managing my Effects, the Hurry of that particular Part, serv'd to divert my Thoughts, and in part to wear out the Impressions which had been made upon my Mind."

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

Date: 1724

"[F]or in losing him, I for-ever lost the Prospect of all the Gayety and Glory, that had made such an Impression upon my Imagination."

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

Date: 1724

"These were the Original Springs, or Fountain-Head, from whence my Affectionate Thoughts were mov'd to assist this poor Woman."

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

Date: 1724

"No, no, there was a Dart struck into the Liver; there was a secret Hell within, even all the while, when our Joy was at the highest."

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

Date: 1724

"In a word, it never Lightn'd or Thunder'd, but I expected the next Flash wou'd penetrate my Vitals, and melt the Sword [Soul] in this Scabbord of Flesh."

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)

Date: 1724

"Those Reflections began to prey upon my Comforts, and lessen the Sweets of my other Enjoyments: They might be said to have gnaw'd a Hole in my Heart before; but now they made a Hole quite thro' it; now they eat into all my pleasant things; made bitter every Sweet, and mix'd my Sighs with every S...

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)