"And as the Mind in Infants, is like a white Sheet of Paper, where nothing is written; or like a tender Twig, which may be bent every Way; it is evident, that either Virtue or Vice may be planted in it."
The Art of Conversation. In Three Parts.
At least 4 entries in ESTC (1581, 1586, 1607, 1738).<br>
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Guazzo, Stefano. <u>The Art of Conversation. In Three Parts. I. The Use and Benefit of Conversation in General, With Instructions to Distinguish Good Company from Bad. The Noxious Nature of Solitude, With the Evils and Mischiefs That Generally Attend It. II. Rules of Behaviour in Company Abroad, Adapted to All Ranks and Degrees of Persons; Also the Conduct and Carriage to Be Observed Between Princes and Private Persons, Noblemen and Gentlemen, Scholars and Mechanicks, Natives and Strangers, Learned and Illiterate, Religious and Secular, Men and Women. III. Directions for the Right Ordering of Conversation at Home, Between Husband and Wife, Father and Son, Mother and Daughter, Brother and Brother, Master and Servant. Interspers'd With Many Foreign Proverbs and Pleasant Stories. The Whole Fitted to Divert, Instruct, and Entertain Persons of Every Taste, Quality, and Circumstance in Life. Written Originally in Italian, by M. Stephen Guazzo. Translated Formerly Into French, and Now Into English.</u> (London: Printed for J. Brett, at the Golden Ball, opposite St. Clement’s Church in the Strand, 1738). &lt;<a href="http://estc.bl.uk/T109491">Link to ESTC</a>&gt;