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Reason Quotes by David Hume

46 Reason quotes by David Hume

All Reason quotes David Hume’s page

Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, according to the quotes. They argue that custom, not pure logic, guides daily life, and that morality springs from feeling rather than cold calculation. The writings also caution that imagination can mislead philosophers.

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Eloquence, when in its highest pitch, leaves little room for reason or reflection.

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It is not contrary to reason to prefer the destruction of the whole world to the scratching of my finger.

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Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions.

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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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The rules of morality are not the conclusion of our reason.

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It is not reason which is the guide of life, but custom.

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No conclusions can be more agreeable to scepticism than such as make discoveries concerning the weakness and narrow limits of human reason…

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Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to…

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Even after the observation of the frequent conjunction of objects, we have no reason to draw any inference concerning any object beyond…

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Eloquence, at its highest pitch, leaves little room for reason or reflection, but addresses itself entirely to the desires and affections, captivating…

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Morals excite passions, and produce or prevent actions. Reason of itself is utterly impotent in this particular. The rules of morality, therefore,…

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“A body of ten ounces raised in any scale may serve as a proof, that the counterbalancing weight exceeds ten ounces; but…

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Nothing is more dangerous to reason than the flights of the imagination and nothing has been the occasion of more mistakes among…

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Any person seasoned with a just sense of the imperfections of natural reason, will fly to revealed truth with the greatest avidity.

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An established government has an infinite advantage, by that very circumstance of its being established--the bulk of mankind being governed by authority,…

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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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Accurate and just reasoning is the only catholic remedy, fitted for all persons and all dispositions; and is alone able to subvert…

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Friendship is a calm and sedate affection, conducted by reason and cemented by habit; springing from long acquaintance and mutual obligations, without…

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As every inquiry which regards religion is of the utmost importance, there are two questions in particular which challenge our attention, to…

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“Here then we are first to consider a book, presented to us by a barbarous and ignorant people, written in an age…

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We have no other notion of cause and effect, but that of certain objects, which have always conjoin'd together, and which in…

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It seems certain, that though a man, in a flush of humour, after intense reflection on the many contradictions and imperfections of…

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“This world, for aught he knows, is very faulty and imperfect, compared to a superior standard; and was only the first rude…

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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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In all ages of the world, priests have been enemies to liberty; and it is certain, that this steady conduct of theirs…

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The whole is a riddle, an enigma, an inexplicable mystery. Doubt, uncertainty, suspence of judgment appear the only result of ourmost accurate…

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Let us become thoroughly sensible of the weakness, blindness, and narrow limits of human reason: Let us duly consider its uncertainty and…

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To consider the matter aright, reason is nothing but a wonderful and unintelligible instinct in our souls, which carries us along a…

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Tis evident that all reasonings concerning matter of fact are founded on the relation of cause and effect, and that we can…

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“So that, upon the whole, we may conclude, that the Christian Religion not only was at first attended with miracles, but even…

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of the world and drudgery of business , seeks a pretense of reason to give itself a full and uncontrolled indulgence.

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Disbelief in futurity loosens in a great measure the ties of morality, and may be for that reason pernicious to the peace…

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“Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to…

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It is not contrary to reason to prefer the destruction of the whole world to the scratching of my finger. It is…

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If we take in our hand any volume; of divinity or school metaphysics, for instance; let us ask, Does it contain any…

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When suicide is out of fashion we conclude that none but madmen destroy themselves; and all the efforts of courage appear chimerical…

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These arguments on each side (and many more might be produced) are so plausible, that I am apt to suspect, they may,…

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On the theory of the soul's mortality, the inferiority of women's capacity is easily accounted for: Their domestic life requires no higher…

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The more tremendous the divinity is represented, the more tame and submissive do men become his ministers: And the more unaccountable the…

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the senses alone are not implicitly to be depended on. We must correct their evidence by reason, and by considerations, derived from…

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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…