“Let me tell the gentle reader that the metals, that is to say, gold and silver in their metallic form, are not the Matter of our Stone—being in the middle between them and the base metals, as our Matter is in the middle between the former and our Great Stone.” - Anonymous. The Golden Tract Concerning The Stone of the Philosophers
"All beings that emerge from the earth come into existence according to the order of time, as the influence of the stars and planets determines—such as the sun, the moon, and others—along with the four qualities of the elements, which mix inseparably and are brought forth by natural processes. Everything that grows and flourishes has its own nature, gender, and form. Thus, since the beginning of creation, all things have been made and ordered by God, the Creator. Likewise, all metals are not formed from a single seed but from their own matter, combined with the four properties of the elements, through the implantation of metallic force and the collective influence of the planets acting upon them. As the natural master Aristotle has well described, and as Ptolemy further confirms, the underlying matter of all metals is fundamentally the same. However, in nature, it is only through the process of purification that the true essence of matter becomes evident, as it is composed of the four elements." — Splendor solis, c. 1582
“The Matter, from which this sovereign Medicine is extracted, is Gold, very pure, Silver very fine, and our Mercury or Quicksilver, which you see daily altered and changed by artifice into Nature of a white and dry Matter.” - Bernard Trevisan. Verbum Dismissum
“Between the different metals there exists a sympathy such as that between the magnet and steel, gold and quicksilver, silver and copper; and this sympathy is the rationale of the transmutation of metals. On the other hand, there are also metallic antipathies, such as that of lead to tin, of iron to gold, of lead to mercury—antipathies which have their counterpart in the animal and vegetable worlds.” - John Frederick Helvetius. Helvetius Golden Calf, which the World Worships and Adores
“it we desire to impart to a metal greater excellence than Nature has given to it, we must take the metallic substance both in its male and its female varieties, else all our efforts will be in vain.” - Michael Sendivogius The New Chemical Light
“Let me advise you not to receive the gold and silver of the vulgar herd, for they are dead. Take our living metals. Place them in our fire, and there will result a dry liquid. First, earth will be resolved into water [for thus the Mercury of the Sages is called]. That water will solve gold and silver, and consume them until only the tenth part with one part is left. This will be the humid radical of the metals.” - Michael Sendivogius, The Golden Tract Concerning The Stone of the Philosophers
“And so that you cannot stray from the right path, apply yourself to metals; for the aforementioned sulfur is found in all” - Nicolas Flamel. Testament of Nicolas Flamel
“The body disguises everything in its own nature. What we want to give him serves as food. Our work thus makes them imperfect metals That it is equal to the equal of its more perfect kings.” - Salomon Trismosin. The Golden Fleece or Flower of the Treasures