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: 1710

"But LOVE slides in so secretly, that it is impossible to observe its Entry or its Progress; like a mask’d Enemy, it advanceth and seizeth all parts of the Soul, before it is discovered: When there is no means to be found to get him out, then he triumphs, and Wisdom and Reason must become his Sla...

— Tipper, John (1663–1713)

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)