--- title: "Best Reason Quotes by David Hume" description: "46 Reason quotes by David Hume. Plus more from David Hume and more Reason sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0da/david-hume-538_belief_it-seems-certain-that-though-a-man-in-a_1228869.jpg" --- > [It seems certain, that though a man, in a flush of humour, after intense reflection on the many contradictions and imperfections of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/it-seems-certain-that-though-a-man-in-a-flush-of-humour-after-intense/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0da/david-hume-538_belief_it-seems-certain-that-though-a-man-in-a_1228869.jpg) > [“Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/reason-is-and-ought-only-to-be-the-slave-of-the-passions-and-can-2/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e36/david-hume-538_passion_reason-is-and-ought-only-to-be-the-slave_2713786.jpg) > [Truth is disputable; not taste: what exists in the nature of things is the standard of our judgement; what each man feels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/truth-is-disputable-not-taste-what-exists-in-the-nature-of-things-is/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94f/david-hume-538_action_truth-is-disputable-not-taste-what-exist_856607.jpg) > [The whole is a riddle, an enigma, an inexplicable mystery. Doubt, uncertainty, suspence of judgment appear the only result of ourmost accurate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-whole-is-a-riddle-an-enigma-an-inexplicable-mystery-doubt/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/968/david-hume-538_accurate_the-whole-is-a-riddle-an-enigma-an-inexp_2654330.jpg) > [To consider the matter aright, reason is nothing but a wonderful and unintelligible instinct in our souls, which carries us along a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/to-consider-the-matter-aright-reason-is-nothing-but-a-wonderful-and/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/david-hume-538_arise_to-consider-the-matter-aright-reason-is_927614.jpg) > [Let us become thoroughly sensible of the weakness, blindness, and narrow limits of human reason: Let us duly consider its uncertainty and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/let-us-become-thoroughly-sensible-of-the-weakness-blindness-and/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/734/david-hume-538_blindness_let-us-become-thoroughly-sensible-of-the_238965.jpg) ## Other authors on Reason - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b021/author-rush-limbaugh-81741.jpg) Rush Limbaugh 99 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/rush-limbaugh/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b004/author-ayn-rand-15943.jpg) Ayn Rand 84 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/ayn-rand/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-thomas-jefferson-90435.jpg) Thomas Jefferson 74 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/thomas-jefferson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-blaise-pascal-18353.jpg) Blaise Pascal 70 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/blaise-pascal/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-noam-chomsky-71799.jpg) Noam Chomsky 65 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/noam-chomsky/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-friedrich-nietzsche-36363.jpg) Friedrich Nietzsche 61 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/friedrich-nietzsche/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b012/author-immanuel-kant-44297.jpg) Immanuel Kant 59 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/immanuel-kant/) - [Ralph Waldo Emerson 54 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/ralph-waldo-emerson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-william-shakespeare-95899.jpg) William Shakespeare 53 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/william-shakespeare/) - [Samuel Johnson 52 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/samuel-johnson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-barack-obama-16275.jpg) Barack Obama 45 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/barack-obama/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-thomas-paine-90547.jpg) Thomas Paine 44 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/thomas-paine/) ## 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/reason/david-hume/#itemlist", "name": "Best Reason Quotes by David Hume", "numberOfItems": 6, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It seems certain, that though a man, in a flush of humour, after intense reflection on the many contradictions and imperfections of human reason, may entirely renounce all belief and opinion, it is impossible for him to persevere in this total scepticism, or make it appear in his conduct for a few hours.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/it-seems-certain-that-though-a-man-in-a-flush-of-humour-after-intense/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0da/david-hume-538_belief_it-seems-certain-that-though-a-man-in-a_1228869.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0da/david-hume-538_belief_it-seems-certain-that-though-a-man-in-a_1228869.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0da/david-hume-538_belief_it-seems-certain-that-though-a-man-in-a_1228869.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It seems certain, that though a man, in a flush of humour, after intense reflection on the many…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them. …'Tis not contrary to reason to prefer the destruction of the whole world to the scratching of my finger.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/reason-is-and-ought-only-to-be-the-slave-of-the-passions-and-can-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e36/david-hume-538_passion_reason-is-and-ought-only-to-be-the-slave_2713786.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e36/david-hume-538_passion_reason-is-and-ought-only-to-be-the-slave_2713786.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e36/david-hume-538_passion_reason-is-and-ought-only-to-be-the-slave_2713786.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Truth is disputable; not taste: what exists in the nature of things is the standard of our judgement; what each man feels within himself is the standard of sentiment. Propositions in geometry may be proved, systems in physics may be controverted; but the harmony of verse, the tenderness of passion, the brilliancy of wit, must give immediate pleasure. 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But such is the frailty of human reason, and such the irresistible contagion of opinion, that even this deliberate doubt could scarcely be upheld; did we not enlarge our view, and opposing one species of superstition to another, set them a quarrelling; while we ourselves, during their fury and contention, happily make our escape into the calm, though obscure, regions of philosophy.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-whole-is-a-riddle-an-enigma-an-inexplicable-mystery-doubt/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/968/david-hume-538_accurate_the-whole-is-a-riddle-an-enigma-an-inexp_2654330.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/968/david-hume-538_accurate_the-whole-is-a-riddle-an-enigma-an-inexp_2654330.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/968/david-hume-538_accurate_the-whole-is-a-riddle-an-enigma-an-inexp_2654330.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The whole is a riddle, an enigma, an inexplicable mystery. Doubt, uncertainty, suspence of judgment appear…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To consider the matter aright, reason is nothing but a wonderful and unintelligible instinct in our souls, which carries us along a certain train of ideas, and endows them with particular qualities, according to their particular situations and relations. This instinct, 'tis true, arises from past observation and experience; but can anyone give the ultimate reason, why past experience and observation produces such an effect, any more than why nature alone should produce it?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/to-consider-the-matter-aright-reason-is-nothing-but-a-wonderful-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/david-hume-538_arise_to-consider-the-matter-aright-reason-is_927614.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/david-hume-538_arise_to-consider-the-matter-aright-reason-is_927614.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/david-hume-538_arise_to-consider-the-matter-aright-reason-is_927614.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To consider the matter aright, reason is nothing but a wonderful and unintelligible instinct in our souls…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Let us become thoroughly sensible of the weakness, blindness, and narrow limits of human reason: Let us duly consider its uncertainty and endless contrarieties, even in subjects of common life and practice… When these topics are displayed in their full light, as they are by some philosophers and almost all divines; who can retain such confidence in this frail faculty of reason as to pay any regard to its determinations in points so sublime, so abstruse, so remote from common life and experience?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/let-us-become-thoroughly-sensible-of-the-weakness-blindness-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/734/david-hume-538_blindness_let-us-become-thoroughly-sensible-of-the_238965.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/734/david-hume-538_blindness_let-us-become-thoroughly-sensible-of-the_238965.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/734/david-hume-538_blindness_let-us-become-thoroughly-sensible-of-the_238965.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Let us become thoroughly sensible of the weakness, blindness, and narrow limits of human reason: Let us duly…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/david-hume/page/2/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/david-hume/page/2/", "name": "Reason Quotes by David Hume · Page 2", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/david-hume/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0da/david-hume-538_belief_it-seems-certain-that-though-a-man-in-a_1228869.jpg" }, "description": "46 Reason quotes by David Hume. 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