--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The minds of men are mirrors to one…" description: "\"The minds of men are mirrors to one another, not only because they reflect each other's emotions, but also because those rays of passions, sentiments a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/620/david-hume-538_decay_the-minds-of-men-are-mirrors-to-one-anot_2687507.jpg" --- # The minds of men are mirrors to one another, not only… ![“The minds of men are mirrors to one another, not only because they reflect each other's emotions, but also because those rays of passions, sentiments and opinions may be often reverberated, and may decay away by insensible degrees.” quote by David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/620/david-hume-538_decay_the-minds-of-men-are-mirrors-to-one-anot_2687507.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/620/david-hume-538_decay_the-minds-of-men-are-mirrors-to-one-anot_2687507.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/620/david-hume-538_decay_the-minds-of-men-are-mirrors-to-one-anot_2687507.jpg) > “The minds of men are mirrors to one another, not only because they reflect each other's emotions, but also because those rays of passions, sentiments and opinions may be often reverberated, and may decay away by insensible degrees.” [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human minds reflect each other's emotions and passions, creating reverberations that fade gradually over time. **In simple terms:** People mirror feelings, which slowly fade. Key Takeaway Recognize emotional influence, manage reactions. Themes psychology empathy reflection Mood thoughtful philosophical Type reflective analytical When to use this quote - relationships - conflict resolution - team dynamics - leadership Key Concepts mirror theory emotional contagion Questions to Reflect On - How can we differentiate genuine empathy from mere reflection? - What strategies prevent emotional decay? A Different Perspective Emotional mirroring can be misinterpreted. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/) [Empathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empathy/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Mirrors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirrors/) [Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Sentiments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sentiments/) ## Related quotes > [The chief benefit, which results from philosophy, arises in an indirect manner, and proceeds more from its secret, insensible influence, than from its immediate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-chief-benefit-which-results-from-philosophy-arises-in-an-indirect/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [People want nothing but mirrors around them. To reflect them while they’re reflecting too ... Reflections of reflections and echoes of echoes. No beginning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/people-want-nothing-but-mirrors-around-them-to-reflect-them-while/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Mirrors should reflect before sending an image.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-luc-godard/mirrors-should-reflect-before-sending-an-image/) [Jean-Luc Godard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-luc-godard/) > [Mirrors would do well to reflect a little more before sending back images.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/mirrors-would-do-well-to-reflect-a-little-more-before-sending-back/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Mirrors only reflect the outside features of a person. It's the heart, soul, honesty and compassion that make one beautiful/attractive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-moores/mirrors-only-reflect-the-outside-features-of-a-person-it-s-the-heart/) [Sarah Moores](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-moores/) > [“But you've never wanted that. You wanted a mirror. People want nothing but mirrors around them. To reflect them while they're reflecting too. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/but-you-ve-never-wanted-that-you-wanted-a-mirror-people-want-nothing/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [These flattering mirrors reflect imperfectly what is within; the countenance is often a gay deceiver. What defects of mind lie hidden under its beauty!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-corneille/these-flattering-mirrors-reflect-imperfectly-what-is-within-the/) [Pierre Corneille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-corneille/) > [For I do not exist: there exist but the thousands of mirrors that reflect me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/for-i-do-not-exist-there-exist-but-the-thousands-of-mirrors-that-2/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [Books are those faithful mirrors that reflect to our mind the minds of sages and heroes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/books-are-those-faithful-mirrors-that-reflect-to-our-mind-the-minds/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Our children are like mirrors, they reflect our attitudes in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/our-children-are-like-mirrors-they-reflect-our-attitudes-in-life/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Mirrors should reflect a little before throwing back images.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/mirrors-should-reflect-a-little-before-throwing-back-images/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [“For I do not exist: there exist but thousands of mirrors that reflect me. With every acquaintance I make, the population of phantoms resembling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/for-i-do-not-exist-there-exist-but-thousands-of-mirrors-that-reflect/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [“Sometimes, authors' descriptions of unique fictional characters are like mirrors that reflect the readers image back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-abix/sometimes-authors-descriptions-of-unique-fictional-characters-are/) Ben Abix > [The mirrors reflect a sense of displacement in today's fashion, a lack of clear vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miuccia-prada/the-mirrors-reflect-a-sense-of-displacement-in-today-s-fashion-a-lack/) [Miuccia Prada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miuccia-prada/) > [Were there not these still mirrors to reflect the beauty of the heavens to us, it might be lost to eyes so seldom lifted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sullivan-dwight/were-there-not-these-still-mirrors-to-reflect-the-beauty-of-the/) John Sullivan Dwight ## 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/) [Explore all 487 David Hume quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) ## More Decay quotes > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [One reason why my memory decays is that I have three cats, all so loving and insistent that they play cat's-cradle with every train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/one-reason-why-my-memory-decays-is-that-i-have-three-cats-all-so/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [I've always thought that the most extraordinary special effect you could do is to buy a child at the moment of its birth, sit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/i-ve-always-thought-that-the-most-extraordinary-special-effect-you/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [We think literature is immortal, but even that decays and ultimately turns to dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-farren/we-think-literature-is-immortal-but-even-that-decays-and-ultimately/) [Mick Farren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-farren/) > [Wise people are able to give themselves gracefully to seemingly contradictory experiences, because they know that they belong to different seasons of life, all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/wise-people-are-able-to-give-themselves-gracefully-to-seemingly/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [The ensouled is distinguished from the unsouled by its being alive. Now since being alive is spoken of in many ways, even if only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-ensouled-is-distinguished-from-the-unsouled-by-its-being-alive/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [It seems that the whole world is beginning to decay, and that its putrefaction has chosen to spread outward from here, from the land…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmina-khadra/it-seems-that-the-whole-world-is-beginning-to-decay-and-that-its/) [Yasmina Khadra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmina-khadra/) > [No government can be strong and flourishing while the national character is weak and degraded. A government must flourish and decay with its subjects;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-robbins-curtis/no-government-can-be-strong-and-flourishing-while-the-national/) [Benjamin Robbins Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-robbins-curtis/) > [But the grind has begun. The windows don’t open, and even the availability of near-constant jokes about Jews and Mormons fails to stem the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/but-the-grind-has-begun-the-windows-don-t-open-and-even-the/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [Cocaine decisions that you make today, will mean nothing later on when you get nose decay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-zappa/cocaine-decisions-that-you-make-today-will-mean-nothing-later-on-when/) [Frank Zappa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-zappa/) > [“They went through the last of the cars and then walked up the track to the locomotive and climbed up to the catwalk. Rust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-went-through-the-last-of-the-cars-and-then-walked-up-the-track/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [Youth should be radical. Youth should demand change in the world. 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Columbus never reached China.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/without-adventure-all-civilization-is-full-of-decay-adventure-rarely/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [“Out of all its squalor and human decay, its eruptions of butchery, India produced so many people of grace and beauty, ruled by elaborate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/out-of-all-its-squalor-and-human-decay-its-eruptions-of-butchery/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 744 Decay quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The minds of men are mirrors to one another, not only because they reflect each other's emotions, but also because those rays of passions, sentiments and opinions may be often reverberated, and may decay away by insensible degrees.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Hume" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-minds-of-men-are-mirrors-to-one-another-not-only-because-they/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Decay" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-minds-of-men-are-mirrors-to-one-another-not-only-because-they/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/620/david-hume-538_decay_the-minds-of-men-are-mirrors-to-one-anot_2687507.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/620/david-hume-538_decay_the-minds-of-men-are-mirrors-to-one-anot_2687507.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/620/david-hume-538_decay_the-minds-of-men-are-mirrors-to-one-anot_2687507.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The minds of men are mirrors to one another, not only because they reflect each other's emotions, but also…” — David Hume", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "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": "David Hume", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The minds of men are mirrors...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-minds-of-men-are-mirrors-to-one-another-not-only-because-they/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-minds-of-men-are-mirrors-to-one-another-not-only-because-they/#breadcrumb" }, { "@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 } } ] } ```