--- title: "22 Principles Quotes By David Hume" description: "22 Principles quotes by David Hume. Plus more from David Hume and more Principles sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/david-hume-538_discovering_history-is-the-discovering-of-the-princi_1101480.jpg" --- > [History is the discovering of the principles of human nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/history-is-the-discovering-of-the-principles-of-human-nature/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/david-hume-538_discovering_history-is-the-discovering-of-the-princi_1101480.jpg) > [Examine the religious principles which have, in fact, prevailed in the world, and you will scarcely be persuaded that they are anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/examine-the-religious-principles-which-have-in-fact-prevailed-in-the/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/840/david-hume-538_atheism_examine-the-religious-principles-which-h_1055893.jpg) > [It affords a violent prejudice against almost every science, that no prudent man, however sure of his principles, dares prophesy concerning any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/it-affords-a-violent-prejudice-against-almost-every-science-that-no/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f41/david-hume-538_consequence_it-affords-a-violent-prejudice-against-a_1085250.jpg) > [The great subverter of Pyrrhonism or the excessive principles of scepticism is action, and employment, and the occupations of common life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-great-subverter-of-pyrrhonism-or-the-excessive-principles-of/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e6/david-hume-538_action_the-great-subverter-of-pyrrhonism-or-the_1870776.jpg) > [Examine the religious principles which have, in fact, prevailed in the world. You will scarcely be persuaded that they are other than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/examine-the-religious-principles-which-have-in-fact-prevailed-in-the-2/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5f/david-hume-538_atheism_examine-the-religious-principles-which-h_2360270.jpg) > [Custom, then, is the great guide of human life. It is that principle alone, which renders our experience useful to us, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/custom-then-is-the-great-guide-of-human-life-it-is-that-principle/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/362/david-hume-538_customs_custom-then-is-the-great-guide-of-human_1694296.jpg) > [It were better, never to look beyond the present material world. By supposing it to contain the principle of its order within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/it-were-better-never-to-look-beyond-the-present-material-world-by/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c70/david-hume-538_divinity_it-were-better-never-to-look-beyond-the_1225735.jpg) > [Mankind are so much the same, in all times and places, that history informs us of nothing new or strange in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/mankind-are-so-much-the-same-in-all-times-and-places-that-history/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/david-hume-538_all-time_mankind-are-so-much-the-same-in-all-time_1749083.jpg) > [“To begin with clear and self-evident principles, to advance by timorous and sure steps, to review frequently our conclusions, and examine accurately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/to-begin-with-clear-and-self-evident-principles-to-advance-by/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e28/david-hume-538_certainty_to-begin-with-clear-and-self-evident-pri_2971481.jpg) > [.. that which renders morality an active principle and constitutes virtue our happiness, and vice our misery: it is probable, I say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/that-which-renders-morality-an-active-principle-and-constitutes/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/250/david-hume-538_active_that-which-renders-morality-an-active-pr_2442569.jpg) > [I do not think a philosopher who would apply himself so earnestly to the explaining the ultimate principles of the soul, would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/i-do-not-think-a-philosopher-who-would-apply-himself-so-earnestly-to/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efb/david-hume-538_explaining_i-do-not-think-a-philosopher-who-would-a_648590.jpg) > [..when, in my philosophical disquisitions, I deny a providence and a future state, I undermine not the foundations of society, but advance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/when-in-my-philosophical-disquisitions-i-deny-a-providence-and-a/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d5/david-hume-538_agnosticism_when-in-my-philosophical-disquisitions-i_3151148.jpg) > [It must appear impossible, that theism could, from reasoning, have been the primary religion of human race, and have afterwards, by its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/it-must-appear-impossible-that-theism-could-from-reasoning-have-been/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/daa/david-hume-538_birth_it-must-appear-impossible-that-theism-co_1098197.jpg) > [When I shall be dead, the principles of which I am composed will still perform their part in the universe, and will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/when-i-shall-be-dead-the-principles-of-which-i-am-composed-will-still/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80a/david-hume-538_air_when-i-shall-be-dead-the-principles-of-w_2477983.jpg) > [When I am convinced of any principle, it is only an idea which strikes more strongly upon me. When I give the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/when-i-am-convinced-of-any-principle-it-is-only-an-idea-which-strikes/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f58/david-hume-538_argument_when-i-am-convinced-of-any-principle-it_2994892.jpg) > [The slaving Poor are incapable of any Principles: Gentlemen may be converted to true Principles, by Time and Experience. The middling Rank…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-slaving-poor-are-incapable-of-any-principles-gentlemen-may-be/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/david-hume-538_curiosity_the-slaving-poor-are-incapable-of-any-pr_1283725.jpg) > [Look round this universe. What an immense profusion of beings, animated and organized, sensible and active! You admire this prodigious variety and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/look-round-this-universe-what-an-immense-profusion-of-beings-animated/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dd/david-hume-538_active_look-round-this-universe-what-an-immense_2077663.jpg) > [Every disastrous accident alarms us, and sets us on enquiries concerning the principles whence it arose: Apprehensions spring up with regard to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/every-disastrous-accident-alarms-us-and-sets-us-on-enquiries/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e2/david-hume-538_accidents_every-disastrous-accident-alarms-us-and_807527.jpg) > [To invent without scruple a new principle to every new phenomenon, instead of adapting it to the old; to overload our hypothesis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/to-invent-without-scruple-a-new-principle-to-every-new-phenomenon/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d85/david-hume-538_adapting_to-invent-without-scruple-a-new-principl_2045283.jpg) > [And whoever is moved by Faith to assent to it, is conscious of a continued miracle in his own person, which subverts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/and-whoever-is-moved-by-faith-to-assent-to-it-is-conscious-of-a/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/205/david-hume-538_agnosticism_and-whoever-is-moved-by-faith-to-assent_1691013.jpg) > [We find in the course of nature that though the effects be many, the principles from which they arise are commonly few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/we-find-in-the-course-of-nature-that-though-the-effects-be-many-the/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81c/david-hume-538_arise_we-find-in-the-course-of-nature-that-tho_1908146.jpg) > [ \[The sceptic\] must acknowledge, if he will acknowledge any thing, that all human life must perish, were his principles to prevail.All discourse,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-sceptic-must-acknowledge-if-he-will-acknowledge-any-thing-that/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/218/david-hume-538_acknowledge_the-sceptic-must-acknowledge-if-he-will_122087.jpg) ## Other authors on Principles - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-sunday-adelaja-87912.jpg) Sunday Adelaja 398 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/sunday-adelaja/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-thomas-jefferson-90435.jpg) Thomas Jefferson 93 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/thomas-jefferson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-stephen-covey-86975.jpg) Stephen Covey 65 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/stephen-covey/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-noam-chomsky-71799.jpg) Noam Chomsky 47 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/noam-chomsky/) - [Aristotle 42 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/aristotle/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-thomas-paine-90547.jpg) Thomas Paine 38 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/thomas-paine/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-swami-vivekananda-88348.jpg) Swami Vivekananda 38 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/swami-vivekananda/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-barack-obama-16275.jpg) Barack Obama 35 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/barack-obama/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b012/author-james-madison-46533.jpg) James Madison 34 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/james-madison/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b004/author-ayn-rand-15943.jpg) Ayn Rand 30 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/ayn-rand/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b003/author-alexander-hamilton-10963.jpg) Alexander Hamilton 30 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/alexander-hamilton/) - [Ralph Waldo Emerson 27 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## More by David Hume > [“Beauty in things exists in the mind that contemplates them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/beauty-in-things-exists-in-the-mind-that-contemplates-them/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [“It is impossible for us to think of any thing, which we have not antecedently felt, either by our external or internal senses.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/it-is-impossible-for-us-to-think-of-any-thing-which-we-have-not/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [All morality depends upon our sentiments; and when any action or quality of the mind pleases us after a certain manner we say it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/all-morality-depends-upon-our-sentiments-and-when-any-action-or/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [And indeed nothing but the most determined scepticism, along with a great degree of indolence, can justify this aversion to metaphysics. For if truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/and-indeed-nothing-but-the-most-determined-scepticism-along-with-a/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [...virtue is attended by more peace of mind than vice, and meets with a more favourable reception from the world. I am sensible, that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/virtue-is-attended-by-more-peace-of-mind-than-vice-and-meets-with-a/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [That the sun will not rise tomorrow is no less intelligible a proposition, and implies no more contradiction, than the affirmation, that it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/that-the-sun-will-not-rise-tomorrow-is-no-less-intelligible-a/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [We may conclude, therefore, that, in order to establish laws for the regulation of property, we must be acquainted with the nature and situation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/we-may-conclude-therefore-that-in-order-to-establish-laws-for-the/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [The observation of human blindness and weakness is the result of all philosophy, and meets us at every turn, in spite of our endeavours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-observation-of-human-blindness-and-weakness-is-the-result-of-all/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [The religious hypothesis, therefore, must be considered only as a particular method of accounting for the visible phenomena of the universe: but no just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-religious-hypothesis-therefore-must-be-considered-only-as-a/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/manufacturers-gradually-shift-their-places-leaving-those-countries/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [We may observe that, in displaying the praises of any humane, beneficent man, there is one circumstance which never fails to be amply insisted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/we-may-observe-that-in-displaying-the-praises-of-any-humane/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [“The most perfect happiness, surely, must arise from the contemplation of the most perfect object.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-most-perfect-happiness-surely-must-arise-from-the-contemplation/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [“They all make up new species of crime and bring unhappiness in their train. When I hear a man is religious , I conclude…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/they-all-make-up-new-species-of-crime-and-bring-unhappiness-in-their/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [There is not to be found, in all history, any miracle attested by a sufficient number of men, of such unquestioned good sense, education…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/there-is-not-to-be-found-in-all-history-any-miracle-attested-by-a/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [“But though there be naturally a wide difference in point of delicacy between one person and another, nothing tends further to encrease and improve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/but-though-there-be-naturally-a-wide-difference-in-point-of-delicacy/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/david-hume/#itemlist", "name": "22 Principles Quotes By David Hume", "numberOfItems": 22, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "History is the discovering of the principles of human nature.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/history-is-the-discovering-of-the-principles-of-human-nature/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/david-hume-538_discovering_history-is-the-discovering-of-the-princi_1101480.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/david-hume-538_discovering_history-is-the-discovering-of-the-princi_1101480.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/david-hume-538_discovering_history-is-the-discovering-of-the-princi_1101480.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“History is the discovering of the principles of human nature.” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Examine the religious principles which have, in fact, prevailed in the world, and you will scarcely be persuaded that they are anything but sick men's dreams.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/examine-the-religious-principles-which-have-in-fact-prevailed-in-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/840/david-hume-538_atheism_examine-the-religious-principles-which-h_1055893.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/840/david-hume-538_atheism_examine-the-religious-principles-which-h_1055893.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/840/david-hume-538_atheism_examine-the-religious-principles-which-h_1055893.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Examine the religious principles which have, in fact, prevailed in the world, and you will scarcely be…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It affords a violent prejudice against almost every science, that no prudent man, however sure of his principles, dares prophesy concerning any event, or foretell the remote consequences of things.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/it-affords-a-violent-prejudice-against-almost-every-science-that-no/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f41/david-hume-538_consequence_it-affords-a-violent-prejudice-against-a_1085250.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f41/david-hume-538_consequence_it-affords-a-violent-prejudice-against-a_1085250.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f41/david-hume-538_consequence_it-affords-a-violent-prejudice-against-a_1085250.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It affords a violent prejudice against almost every science, that no prudent man, however sure of his…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The great subverter of Pyrrhonism or the excessive principles of scepticism is action, and employment, and the occupations of common life.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-great-subverter-of-pyrrhonism-or-the-excessive-principles-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e6/david-hume-538_action_the-great-subverter-of-pyrrhonism-or-the_1870776.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e6/david-hume-538_action_the-great-subverter-of-pyrrhonism-or-the_1870776.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e6/david-hume-538_action_the-great-subverter-of-pyrrhonism-or-the_1870776.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The great subverter of Pyrrhonism or the excessive principles of scepticism is action, and employment, and…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Examine the religious principles which have, in fact, prevailed in the world. You will scarcely be persuaded that they are other than sick men's dreams.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/examine-the-religious-principles-which-have-in-fact-prevailed-in-the-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5f/david-hume-538_atheism_examine-the-religious-principles-which-h_2360270.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5f/david-hume-538_atheism_examine-the-religious-principles-which-h_2360270.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5f/david-hume-538_atheism_examine-the-religious-principles-which-h_2360270.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Examine the religious principles which have, in fact, prevailed in the world. You will scarcely be persuaded…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Custom, then, is the great guide of human life. It is that principle alone, which renders our experience useful to us, and makes us expect, for the future, a similar train of events with those which have appeared in the past.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/custom-then-is-the-great-guide-of-human-life-it-is-that-principle/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/362/david-hume-538_customs_custom-then-is-the-great-guide-of-human_1694296.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/362/david-hume-538_customs_custom-then-is-the-great-guide-of-human_1694296.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/362/david-hume-538_customs_custom-then-is-the-great-guide-of-human_1694296.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Custom, then, is the great guide of human life. It is that principle alone, which renders our experience…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It were better, never to look beyond the present material world. By supposing it to contain the principle of its order within itself, we really assert it to be God; and the sooner we arrive at that divinity, the better.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/it-were-better-never-to-look-beyond-the-present-material-world-by/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c70/david-hume-538_divinity_it-were-better-never-to-look-beyond-the_1225735.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c70/david-hume-538_divinity_it-were-better-never-to-look-beyond-the_1225735.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c70/david-hume-538_divinity_it-were-better-never-to-look-beyond-the_1225735.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It were better, never to look beyond the present material world. By supposing it to contain the principle of…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Mankind are so much the same, in all times and places, that history informs us of nothing new or strange in this particular. Its chief use is only to discover the constant and universal principles of human nature.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/mankind-are-so-much-the-same-in-all-times-and-places-that-history/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/david-hume-538_all-time_mankind-are-so-much-the-same-in-all-time_1749083.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/david-hume-538_all-time_mankind-are-so-much-the-same-in-all-time_1749083.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/david-hume-538_all-time_mankind-are-so-much-the-same-in-all-time_1749083.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Mankind are so much the same, in all times and places, that history informs us of nothing new or strange in…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“To begin with clear and self-evident principles, to advance by timorous and sure steps, to review frequently our conclusions, and examine accurately all their consequences; though by these means we shall make both a slow and a short progress in our systems; are the only methods, by which we can ever hope to reach truth, and attain a proper stability and certainty in our determinations.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/to-begin-with-clear-and-self-evident-principles-to-advance-by/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e28/david-hume-538_certainty_to-begin-with-clear-and-self-evident-pri_2971481.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e28/david-hume-538_certainty_to-begin-with-clear-and-self-evident-pri_2971481.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e28/david-hume-538_certainty_to-begin-with-clear-and-self-evident-pri_2971481.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To begin with clear and self-evident principles, to advance by timorous and sure steps, to review frequently…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": ".. that which renders morality an active principle and constitutes virtue our happiness, and vice our misery: it is probable, I say, that this final sentence depends on some internal sense or feeling, which nature has made universal in the whole species.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/that-which-renders-morality-an-active-principle-and-constitutes/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/250/david-hume-538_active_that-which-renders-morality-an-active-pr_2442569.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/250/david-hume-538_active_that-which-renders-morality-an-active-pr_2442569.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/250/david-hume-538_active_that-which-renders-morality-an-active-pr_2442569.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“.. that which renders morality an active principle and constitutes virtue our happiness, and vice our…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I do not think a philosopher who would apply himself so earnestly to the explaining the ultimate principles of the soul, would show himself a great master in the very science of human nature, which he pretends to explain, or very knowing in what is naturally satisfactory to the mind of man.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/i-do-not-think-a-philosopher-who-would-apply-himself-so-earnestly-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efb/david-hume-538_explaining_i-do-not-think-a-philosopher-who-would-a_648590.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efb/david-hume-538_explaining_i-do-not-think-a-philosopher-who-would-a_648590.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efb/david-hume-538_explaining_i-do-not-think-a-philosopher-who-would-a_648590.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I do not think a philosopher who would apply himself so earnestly to the explaining the ultimate principles…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "..when, in my philosophical disquisitions, I deny a providence and a future state, I undermine not the foundations of society, but advance principles, which they themselves, upon their own topics, if they argue consistently, must allow to be solid and satisfactory.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/when-in-my-philosophical-disquisitions-i-deny-a-providence-and-a/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d5/david-hume-538_agnosticism_when-in-my-philosophical-disquisitions-i_3151148.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d5/david-hume-538_agnosticism_when-in-my-philosophical-disquisitions-i_3151148.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d5/david-hume-538_agnosticism_when-in-my-philosophical-disquisitions-i_3151148.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“..when, in my philosophical disquisitions, I deny a providence and a future state, I undermine not the…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It must appear impossible, that theism could, from reasoning, have been the primary religion of human race, and have afterwards, by its corruption, given birth to polytheism and to all the various superstitions of the heathen world. Reason, when obvious, prevents these corruptions: When abstruse, it keeps the principles entirely from the knowledge of the vulgar, who are alone liable to corrupt any principle or opinion.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/it-must-appear-impossible-that-theism-could-from-reasoning-have-been/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/daa/david-hume-538_birth_it-must-appear-impossible-that-theism-co_1098197.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/daa/david-hume-538_birth_it-must-appear-impossible-that-theism-co_1098197.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/daa/david-hume-538_birth_it-must-appear-impossible-that-theism-co_1098197.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It must appear impossible, that theism could, from reasoning, have been the primary religion of human race…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 14, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I shall be dead, the principles of which I am composed will still perform their part in the universe, and will be equally useful in the grand fabric, as when they composed this individual creature. The difference to the whole will be no greater betwixt my being in a chamber and in the open air. The one change is of more importance to me than the other; but not more so to the universe.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/when-i-shall-be-dead-the-principles-of-which-i-am-composed-will-still/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80a/david-hume-538_air_when-i-shall-be-dead-the-principles-of-w_2477983.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80a/david-hume-538_air_when-i-shall-be-dead-the-principles-of-w_2477983.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80a/david-hume-538_air_when-i-shall-be-dead-the-principles-of-w_2477983.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I shall be dead, the principles of which I am composed will still perform their part in the universe…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 15, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I am convinced of any principle, it is only an idea which strikes more strongly upon me. When I give the preference to one set of arguments above another, I do nothing but decide from my feeling concerning the superiority of their influence.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/when-i-am-convinced-of-any-principle-it-is-only-an-idea-which-strikes/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f58/david-hume-538_argument_when-i-am-convinced-of-any-principle-it_2994892.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f58/david-hume-538_argument_when-i-am-convinced-of-any-principle-it_2994892.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f58/david-hume-538_argument_when-i-am-convinced-of-any-principle-it_2994892.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I am convinced of any principle, it is only an idea which strikes more strongly upon me. When I give…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 16, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The slaving Poor are incapable of any Principles: Gentlemen may be converted to true Principles, by Time and Experience. The middling Rank of Men have Curiosity and Knowledge enough to form Principles, but not enough to form true ones, or correct any Prejudices that they may have imbib'd: And 'tis among the middling Rank, that Tory Principles do at present prevail most in England.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-slaving-poor-are-incapable-of-any-principles-gentlemen-may-be/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/david-hume-538_curiosity_the-slaving-poor-are-incapable-of-any-pr_1283725.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/david-hume-538_curiosity_the-slaving-poor-are-incapable-of-any-pr_1283725.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ae/david-hume-538_curiosity_the-slaving-poor-are-incapable-of-any-pr_1283725.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The slaving Poor are incapable of any Principles: Gentlemen may be converted to true Principles, by Time and…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 17, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Look round this universe. What an immense profusion of beings, animated and organized, sensible and active! You admire this prodigious variety and fecundity. But inspect a little more narrowly these living existences, the only beings worth regarding. How hostile and destructive to each other! How insufficient all of them for their own happiness! How contemptible or odious to the spectator! The whole presents nothing but the idea of a blind Nature, inpregnated by a great vivifying principle, and pouring forth from her lap, without discernment or parental care, her maimed and abortive children.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/look-round-this-universe-what-an-immense-profusion-of-beings-animated/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dd/david-hume-538_active_look-round-this-universe-what-an-immense_2077663.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dd/david-hume-538_active_look-round-this-universe-what-an-immense_2077663.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dd/david-hume-538_active_look-round-this-universe-what-an-immense_2077663.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Look round this universe. What an immense profusion of beings, animated and organized, sensible and active!…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 18, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Every disastrous accident alarms us, and sets us on enquiries concerning the principles whence it arose: Apprehensions spring up with regard to futurity: And the mind, sunk into diffidence, terror, and melancholy, has recourse to every method of appeasing those secret intelligent powers, on whom our fortune is supposed entirely to depend.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/every-disastrous-accident-alarms-us-and-sets-us-on-enquiries/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e2/david-hume-538_accidents_every-disastrous-accident-alarms-us-and_807527.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e2/david-hume-538_accidents_every-disastrous-accident-alarms-us-and_807527.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e2/david-hume-538_accidents_every-disastrous-accident-alarms-us-and_807527.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Every disastrous accident alarms us, and sets us on enquiries concerning the principles whence it arose…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 19, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To invent without scruple a new principle to every new phenomenon, instead of adapting it to the old; to overload our hypothesis with a variety of this kind, are certain proofs that none of these principles is the just one, and that we only desire, by a number of falsehoods, to cover our ignorance of the truth.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/to-invent-without-scruple-a-new-principle-to-every-new-phenomenon/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d85/david-hume-538_adapting_to-invent-without-scruple-a-new-principl_2045283.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d85/david-hume-538_adapting_to-invent-without-scruple-a-new-principl_2045283.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d85/david-hume-538_adapting_to-invent-without-scruple-a-new-principl_2045283.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To invent without scruple a new principle to every new phenomenon, instead of adapting it to the old; to…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 20, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "And whoever is moved by Faith to assent to it, is conscious of a continued miracle in his own person, which subverts all the principles of his understanding, and gives him a determination to believe what is most contrary to custom and experience.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/and-whoever-is-moved-by-faith-to-assent-to-it-is-conscious-of-a/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/205/david-hume-538_agnosticism_and-whoever-is-moved-by-faith-to-assent_1691013.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/205/david-hume-538_agnosticism_and-whoever-is-moved-by-faith-to-assent_1691013.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/205/david-hume-538_agnosticism_and-whoever-is-moved-by-faith-to-assent_1691013.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And whoever is moved by Faith to assent to it, is conscious of a continued miracle in his own person, which…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 21, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We find in the course of nature that though the effects be many, the principles from which they arise are commonly few and simple, and that it is the sign of an unskilled naturalist to have recourse to a different quality in order to explain every different operation.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/we-find-in-the-course-of-nature-that-though-the-effects-be-many-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81c/david-hume-538_arise_we-find-in-the-course-of-nature-that-tho_1908146.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81c/david-hume-538_arise_we-find-in-the-course-of-nature-that-tho_1908146.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81c/david-hume-538_arise_we-find-in-the-course-of-nature-that-tho_1908146.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We find in the course of nature that though the effects be many, the principles from which they arise are…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 22, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "[The sceptic] must acknowledge, if he will acknowledge any thing, that all human life must perish, were his principles to prevail.All discourse, all action would immediately cease, and men remain in a total lethargy, till the necessities of nature, unsatisfied, put an end to their miserable existence.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-sceptic-must-acknowledge-if-he-will-acknowledge-any-thing-that/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/218/david-hume-538_acknowledge_the-sceptic-must-acknowledge-if-he-will_122087.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/218/david-hume-538_acknowledge_the-sceptic-must-acknowledge-if-he-will_122087.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/218/david-hume-538_acknowledge_the-sceptic-must-acknowledge-if-he-will_122087.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“[The sceptic] must acknowledge, if he will acknowledge any thing, that all human life must perish, were his…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/david-hume/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/david-hume/", "name": "Principles Quotes by David Hume", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/david-hume/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac3/david-hume-538_discovering_history-is-the-discovering-of-the-princi_1101480.jpg" }, "description": "22 Principles quotes by David Hume. Plus more from David Hume and more Principles sayings from other authors.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/david-hume/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/david-hume/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Topics", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Principles", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "name": "David Hume", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/david-hume/" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```