Luxury is a word of uncertain signification, and may be taken in a good as in a bad sense — David Hume Copy Share Image
We may observe that, in displaying the praises of any humane, beneficent man, there is one circumstance which never fails to be… — David Hume Copy Share Image
We may well ask, What causes induce us to believe in the existence of body? but 'tis vain to ask. Whether there… — David Hume Copy Share Image
A man acquainted with history may, in some respect, be said to have lived from the beginning of the world, and to… — David Hume Copy Share Image
And though the philosopher may live remote from business, the genius of philosophy, if carefully cultivated by several, must gradually diffuse itself… — David Hume Copy Share Image
It is with books as with women, where a certain plainness of manner and of dress is more engaging than that glare… — David Hume Copy Share Image
I may venture to affirm the rest of mankind, that they are nothing but a bundle or collection of different perceptions, which… — David Hume Copy Share Image
Disbelief in futurity loosens in a great measure the ties of morality, and may be for that reason pernicious to the peace… — David Hume Copy Share Image
Habit may lead us to belief and expectation but not to the knowledge, and still less to the understanding, of lawful relations. — David Hume Copy Share Image
It seems certain, that though a man, in a flush of humour, after intense reflection on the many contradictions and imperfections of… — David Hume Copy Share Image
... if you insist that the inference is made by a chain of reasoning, I desire you to produce that reasoning. The… — David Hume Copy Share Image
Truth is disputable; not taste: what exists in the nature of things is the standard of our judgement; what each man feels… — David Hume Copy Share Image
Justice is a moral virtue, merely because it has that tendency to the good of mankind, and indeed is nothing but an… — David Hume Copy Share Image
A Tory..., since the revolution, may be defined in a few words, to be a lover of monarchy, though without abandoning liberty;… — David Hume Copy Share Image
The slaving Poor are incapable of any Principles: Gentlemen may be converted to true Principles, by Time and Experience. The middling Rank… — David Hume Copy Share Image
There is, indeed a more mitigated scepticism or academical philosophy, which may be both durable and useful, and which may, in part,… — David Hume Copy Share Image
It seems then, say I, that you leave politics entirely out of the question, and never suppose, that a wise magistrate can… — David Hume Copy Share Image
But, historians, and even common sense, may inform us, that, however specious these ideas of perfect equality may seem, they are really,… — David Hume Copy Share Image
.. that a rule, which, in speculation, may seem the most advantageous to society, may yet be found, in practice, totally pernicious… — David Hume Copy Share Image
All the sciences have a relation, greater or less, to human nature; and...however wide any of them may seem to run from… — David Hume Copy Share Image
All ills spring from some vice, either in ourselves or others; and even many of our diseases proceed from the same origin.… — David Hume Copy Share Image
We may conclude, therefore, that, in order to establish laws for the regulation of property, we must be acquainted with the nature… — David Hume Copy Share Image
There is an inconvenience which attends all abstruse reasoning. that it may silence, without convincing an antagonist, and requires the same intense… — David Hume Copy Share Image
I say then, that belief is nothing but a more vivid, lively, forcible, firm, steady conception of an object, than what the… — David Hume Copy Share Image
But in many orders of beauty, particularly those of the finer arts, it is requisite to employ much reasoning, in order to… — David Hume Copy Share Image
Courage, of all national qualities, is the most precarious; because it is exerted only at intervals, and by a few in every… — David Hume Copy Share Image
And as this is the obvious appearance of things, it must be admitted, till some hypothesis be discovered, which by penetrating deeper… — David Hume Copy Share Image
For, besides, that many persons find too sensible an interest in perpetually recalling such topics; besides this, I say, the motive of… — David Hume Copy Share Image
But there still prevails, even in nations well acquainted with commerce, a strong jealousy with regard to the balance of trade, and… — David Hume Copy Share Image
Barbarity, caprice; these qualities, however nominally disguised, we may universally observe from the ruling character of the deity in all regular religions. — David Hume Copy Share Image
It is harder to avoid censure than to gain applause; for this may be done by one great or wise action in… — David Hume Copy Share Image
The greater part of mankind may be divided into two classes; that of shallow thinkers who fall short of the truth; and… — David Hume Copy Share Image
Liberty is a blessing so inestimable, that, wherever there appears any probability of recovering it, a nation may willingly run many hazards,… — David Hume Copy Share Image
The minds of men are mirrors to one another, not only because they reflect each other's emotions, but also because those rays… — David Hume Copy Share Image
In a vain man, the smallest spark may kindle into the greatest flame, because the materials are always prepared for it. — David Hume Copy Share Image
There is only one vice, which may be found in life with as strong features, and as high a colouring as needs… — David Hume Copy Share Image
If ... the past may be no Rule for the future, all Experience becomes useless and can give rise to no Inferences… — David Hume Copy Share Image
Every court of criminal justice must have the power of correcting the greatest and dangerous of all abuses of the forms of… — David Hume Copy Share Image
'Tis certain that a serious attention to the sciences and liberal arts softens and humanizes the temper, and cherishes those fine emotions… — David Hume Copy Share Image
“It is impossible for us to think of any thing, which we have not antecedently felt, either by our external or internal senses.” — David Hume Copy Share Image
All morality depends upon our sentiments; and when any action or quality of the mind pleases us after a certain manner we say it… — David Hume Copy Share Image
And indeed nothing but the most determined scepticism, along with a great degree of indolence, can justify this aversion to metaphysics. For if truth… — David Hume Copy Share Image
...virtue is attended by more peace of mind than vice, and meets with a more favourable reception from the world. I am sensible, that,… — David Hume Copy Share Image
That the sun will not rise tomorrow is no less intelligible a proposition, and implies no more contradiction, than the affirmation, that it will… — David Hume Copy Share Image
We may conclude, therefore, that, in order to establish laws for the regulation of property, we must be acquainted with the nature and situation… — David Hume Copy Share Image
The observation of human blindness and weakness is the result of all philosophy, and meets us at every turn, in spite of our endeavours… — David Hume Copy Share Image
The religious hypothesis, therefore, must be considered only as a particular method of accounting for the visible phenomena of the universe: but no just… — David Hume Copy Share Image
Manufacturers...gradually shift their places, leaving those countries and provinces which they have already enriched, and flying to others, whether they are allured by the… — David Hume Copy Share Image
We may observe that, in displaying the praises of any humane, beneficent man, there is one circumstance which never fails to be amply insisted… — David Hume Copy Share Image
“The most perfect happiness, surely, must arise from the contemplation of the most perfect object.” — David Hume Copy Share Image
