Elements of the Pathology of the Human Mind

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Murray, 1838 - Imagination - 182 pages

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Page 9 - Grief fills the room up of my absent child, Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me, Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words, Remembers me of all his gracious parts, Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form ; Then have I reason to be fond of grief.
Page 32 - I shall add, as an observation to the same purpose, that, if a man be liable to a vice or imperfection, it may often happen, that a good quality, which he possesses along with it, will render him more miserable, than if he were completely vicious.
Page 157 - In order to illustrate this conclusion a little farther, it may be proper to remark, that if the suspension of our voluntary operations in sleep be admitted as a fact, there are only two suppositions which can be formed concerning its cause. The one is, that the power of volition is suspended ; the other, that the will loses its influence over those faculties of the mind, and those members of the body, which, during our waking hours, are subjected to its authority.
Page 44 - Rousseau seem to have constantly realized themselves. But whoever has brought himself to consider a disease of the brain as differing only in degree from a disease of the lungs, has robbed it of that mysterious horror which forms its chief malignity. If he were to do this by undervaluing intellect, he would indeed gain only a low quiet at the expense of mental dignity. But you do it by feeling the superiority of a moral nature over intellect itself.
Page 87 - Courage may be shown by a seaman who braves the dangers of the sea, or by a horseman who mounts a horse which no one else will approach. Courage may be shown in calmly preparing for a surgical operation, as patience is exhibited in bearing it without a groan. Valour and bravery can only be displayed against present danger from a living if not a human adversary.
Page 157 - If it can be shown, then, that the former supposition is not agreeable to fact, the truth of the latter seems to follow as a necessary consequence. 1. That the power of volition is not suspended during sleep, appears from the efforts which we are conscious of making while in that situation. We dream, for example, that we are in danger, and we attempt to call out for assistance. The attempt, indeed, is in general unsuccessful...
Page 124 - He is without the sense of shame, or glory, as some men are without the sense of smelling ; and therefore, a good name to him, is no more than a precious ointment would be, to these.
Page 44 - The same principles, however, lead you to keep every instrument of duty and usefulness in repair, and the same habits of feeling will afford you the best chance of doing so. " We are all accustomed to contemplate with pleasure the suspension of the ordinary operations of the understanding in sleep, and to be even amused by its nightly wanderings from its course in dreams. From the commanding eminence which you have gained, you will gradually familiarize your mind to consider its other aberrations...
Page 43 - ... superiority, that from which the firmest men have recoiled. That the mind of a good man may approach independence of external things, is a truth -which no one ever doubted, who was worthy to understand ; but you perhaps afford the first example of the moral nature looking on the understanding itself as something that is only the first of its instruments.
Page 124 - I have had the honour of much conversation with his lordship, and am thoroughly convinced how indifferent he is to applause, and how insensible of reproach; which is not...

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