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Men Quotes by David Hume

78 Men quotes by David Hume

All Men quotes David Hume’s page

David Hume talks about how laws about property need a clear picture of what people really are. He also points out that no miracle has ever been proved by enough smart people. Finally, he says that feeling unhappy often comes from believing you are special.

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A man posing for a painting.

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Men often act knowingly against their interest.

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No man ever threw away life while it was worth keeping.

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Art may make a suite of clothes, but nature must produce a man.

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When men are most sure and arrogant they are commonly most mistaken.

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The heart of man is made to reconcile the most glaring contradictions.

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The unhappy of all men is he who believes himself to be so.

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When I hear that a man is religious, I conclude he is a rascal!

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A little philosophy makes a man an Atheist: a great deal converts him to religion

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No truth appears to me more evident than that beasts are endowed with thought and reason as well as men.

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Men are much oftener thrown on their knees by the melancholy than by the agreeable passions.

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Heaven and hell suppose two distinct species of men, the good and the bad. But the greatest part of mankind float betwixt…

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In public affairs men are often better pleased that the truth, though known to everybody, should be wrapped up under a decent…

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One would appear ridiculous who would say, that it is only probable the sun will rise to-morrow, or that all men must…

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When men are most sure and arrogant they are commonly most mistaken, giving views to passion without that proper deliberation which alone…

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Do you come to a philosopher as to a cunning man, to learn something by magic or witchcraft, beyond what can be…

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There is not to be found, in all history, any miracle attested by a sufficient number of men, of such unquestioned good…

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It is harder to avoid censure than to gain applause; for this may be done by one great or wise action in…

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Happy the man whom indulgent fortune allows to pay to virtue what he owes to nature, and to make a generous gift…

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A wise man's kingdom is his own breast: or, if he ever looks farther, it will only be to the judgment of…

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The slaving Poor are incapable of any Principles: Gentlemen may be converted to true Principles, by Time and Experience. The middling Rank…

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The conduct of a man, who studies philosophy in this careless manner, is more truly sceptical than that of any one, who…

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The difference between a man who is led by opinion or emotion and one who is led by reason. The former, whether…

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'Tis certain that a serious attention to the sciences and liberal arts softens and humanizes the temper, and cherishes those fine emotions…

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From the apparent usefulness of the social virtues, it has readily been inferred by sceptics, both ancient and modern, that all moral…

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The greatest crimes have been found, in many instances, to be compatible with a superstitious piety and devotion; hence it is justly…

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We make allowance for a certain degree of selfishness in men; because we know it to be inseparable from human nature, and…

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A man who has cured himself of all ridiculous prepossessions, and is fully, sincerely, and steadily convinced, from experience as well as…

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Truth is disputable; not taste: what exists in the nature of things is the standard of our judgement; what each man feels…

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When anyone tells me that he saw a dead man restored to life, I immediately consider with myself whether it be more…

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The best taxes are such as are levied upon consumptions, especially those of luxury; because such taxes are least felt by the…

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But, historians, and even common sense, may inform us, that, however specious these ideas of perfect equality may seem, they are really,…

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For as to the dispersing of Books, that Circumstance does perhaps as much harm as good: Since Nonsense flies with greater Celerity,…

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Were a man, whom I know to be honest and opulent, and with whom I live in intimate friendship, to come into…

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If nature has been frugal in her gifts and endowments, there is the more need of art to supply her defects. If…

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Municipal laws are a supply to the wisdom of each individual; and, at the same time, by restraining the natural liberty of…

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It affords a violent prejudice against almost every science, that no prudent man, however sure of his principles, dares prophesy concerning any…

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Examine the religious principles which have, in fact, prevailed in the world, and you will scarcely be persuaded that they are anything…

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The consequence of a very free commerce between the sexes, and of their living much together, will often terminate in intrigues and…

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Enthusiasm, being the infirmity of bold and ambitious tempers, is naturally accompanied with a spirit of liberty; as superstition,on the contrary, renders…

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More by David Hume

“Beauty in things exists in the mind that contemplates them.”

“It is impossible for us to think of any thing, which we have not antecedently felt, either by our external or internal senses.”

All morality depends upon our sentiments; and when any action or quality of the mind pleases us after a certain manner we say it…

And indeed nothing but the most determined scepticism, along with a great degree of indolence, can justify this aversion to metaphysics. For if truth…

...virtue is attended by more peace of mind than vice, and meets with a more favourable reception from the world. I am sensible, that,…

That the sun will not rise tomorrow is no less intelligible a proposition, and implies no more contradiction, than the affirmation, that it will…

We may conclude, therefore, that, in order to establish laws for the regulation of property, we must be acquainted with the nature and situation…

The observation of human blindness and weakness is the result of all philosophy, and meets us at every turn, in spite of our endeavours…

The religious hypothesis, therefore, must be considered only as a particular method of accounting for the visible phenomena of the universe: but no just…

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…

We may observe that, in displaying the praises of any humane, beneficent man, there is one circumstance which never fails to be amply insisted…

“The most perfect happiness, surely, must arise from the contemplation of the most perfect object.”

“They all make up new species of crime and bring unhappiness in their train. When I hear a man is religious , I conclude…

There is not to be found, in all history, any miracle attested by a sufficient number of men, of such unquestioned good sense, education…

“But though there be naturally a wide difference in point of delicacy between one person and another, nothing tends further to encrease and improve…