tragling _Idea_, and rummage all
the Solitudes and Retirements of our Soul, for a lost Thought, which has
left no Track or Foot-steps behind it: The swift Off-spring of the Mind
is gone; 'tis dead as soon as born; nay, often proves abortive in the
moment it was conceiv'd: The only way therefore to retain our Thoughts,
is to fasten them in Words, and chain them in Writing.

* A Man is never so great a _Dunce_ by _Nature_, but _Love_, _Malice_,
or _Necessity_, will supply him with some _Wit_.

* There is a _Defect_ which is almost unavoidable in great _Inventors_;
it is the Custom of such earnest and powerful Minds, to do wonderful
Things in the beginning; but shortly after, to be over-born by the
Multitude and Weight of their own Thoughts; then to yield and cool by
little and little, and at last grow weary, and even to loath that, upon
which they were at first the most eager. This is the wonted Constitution
of _great Wits_; such tender things are those exalted Actions of the
Mind; and so hard it is for those Imaginations, that can run swift and
mighty Races, to be able to travel a long and constant Journey. The
Effects of this Infirmity have been so remarkable, that we have
certianly lost very many Inventions, after they have been in part
fashion'd, by the meer _Languishing_ and _Negligence_ of their
_Authors_.

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