Date: February 18, 1752

"A Good Name, says the Dramatic Poet, is the immediate Jewel of a Man's Soul."

— Fielding, Henry (1707-1754)

Date: March 24, 1752

"The Mind of Man is compared by Montaigne to a fertile Field, which tho' it be left entirely uncultivated, still retains all its genial Powers; but instead of producing any Thing lovely or profitable, sends forth only Weeds and wild Herbs of various Kinds, which serve to no Use or Emolument whats...

— Fielding, Henry (1707-1754)

Date: Saturday, Aug. 3, 1754; 1756

"It is justly remarked by Horace, that what is conveyed to our Notice through our Ears, acts with a more feeble Impulse upon the Mind, than Objects that pass through the Organs of Sight, those faithful Evidences in a mental Court of Judicature."

— Murphy, Arthur (1727-1805)

Date: Saturday, Aug. 3, 1754; 1756

"When I mention Figures, I must observe, that Men of critical Knowledge have justly distinguished between Figures of Speech, and Figures of the Sentiment; the former including Metaphor and all Translations of Phrases, and the latter consisting of such Breaks and Transitions in Discourse, as the M...

— Murphy, Arthur (1727-1805)

Date: Saturday, Aug. 3, 1754; 1756

"As for Instance, when the Poet says of Dido, that she is devoured by an inward Flame."

— Murphy, Arthur (1727-1805)

Date: Saturday, Aug. 3, 1754; 1756

"The use of these kind of Figures in Tragedy should be as free and bold as possible, and with Respect to Expression, no other Regard is to be paid to it, than to chuse such Words as may be most significantly picturesque, in order to have the more lively Effect on the Imagination, the Passions bei...

— Murphy, Arthur (1727-1805)

Date: w. 1762-3, published 1950

"Lord Elibank has just a cabinet of curiosities [in his mind], which are well ranged and of which he has an exact catalogue."

— Boswell, James (1740-1795)

Date: w. 1762-3, published 1950

"He considered the mind of man like a room, which is either made agreeable or the reverse by the pictures with which it is adorned."

— Boswell, James (1740-1795)

Date: January 1762

"Sans cet art, mon âme se pliant avec peine à des biais chimériques, l’illusion ne serait que momentanée et l’impression faible et passagère. [Without this art, my mind would easily take to the paths of fantasy, there would be only a fleeting illusion and a faint, passing impression.]"

— Diderot, Denis (1713-1784)

Date: January 1762

"Richardson sème dans les cœurs des germes de vertu qui y restent d’abord oisifs et tranquilles: ils y sont secrètement, jusqu’à ce qu’il se présente une occasion qui les remue et les fasse éclore. [Richardson sows in our hearts the seeds of virtue which at first remain still and inactive: their ...

— Diderot, Denis (1713-1784)