The more instances we examine, and the more care we employ, the more assurance shall we acquire, that the enumeration, which we form from the whole, is complete and entire. David Hume More Quotes by David Hume More Quotes From David Hume .. that a rule, which, in speculation, may seem the most advantageous to society, may yet be found, in practice, totally pernicious and destructive. David Hume ethics practice may The advantages found in history seem to be of three kinds, as it amuses the fancy, as it improves the understanding, and as it strengthens virtue. David Hume fancy three understanding When we reflect on our past sentiments and affections, our thought is a faithful mirror, and copies its objects truly; but the colours which it employs are faint and dull, in comparison of those in which our original perceptions were clothed. David Hume faithful mirrors past For the purposes of life and conduct, and society, a little good sense is surely better than all this genius, and a little good humour than this extreme sensibility. David Hume genius purpose littles If ... the past may be no Rule for the future, all Experience becomes useless and can give rise to no Inferences or Conclusions. David Hume future science past We may conclude, therefore, that, in order to establish laws for the regulation of property, we must be acquainted with the nature and situation of man; must reject appearances, which may be false, though specious; and must search for those rules, which are, on the whole, most useful and beneficial. David Hume law men order I have written on all sorts of subjects... yet I have no enemies; except indeed all the Whigs, all the Tories, and all the Christians. David Hume subjects christian enemy Great pleasures are much less frequent than great pains. David Hume pleasure pain A man posing for a painting. David Hume empathy painting men All knowledge resolves itself into probability. ... In every judgment, which we can form concerning probability, as well as concerning knowledge, we ought always to correct the first judgment deriv'd from the nature of the object, by another judgment, deriv'd from the nature of the understanding. David Hume understanding science knowledge Even after the observation of the frequent conjunction of objects, we have no reason to draw any inference concerning any object beyond those of which we have had experience. David Hume inference experience reason Interest is the barometer of the state. David Hume barometer interest states ... if you insist that the inference is made by a chain of reasoning, I desire you to produce that reasoning. The connection between the two is not intuitive. There is required a medium, which may enable the mind to draw such an inference, if indeed it be drawn by reasoning and argument. What that medium is, I must confess, passes my comprehension; and it is incumbent on those to produce it, who assert that it really exists, and is the origin of all our conclusions concerning matter of fact. David Hume words-of-wisdom mind two All this creative power of the mind amounts to no more than the faculty of compounding, transposing, augmenting, or diminishing the materials afforded us the by senses and experience. David Hume creativity creative mind The unhappy of all men is he who believes himself to be so. David Hume unhappy men believe Such is the nature of novelty that where anything pleases it becomes doubly agreeable if new; but if it displeases, it is doubly displeasing on that very account. David Hume accounts novelty please If the religious spirit be ever mentioned in any historical narration, we are sure to meet afterwards with a detail of the miseries which attend it. And no period of time can be happier or more prosperous, than those in which it is never regarded or heard of. David Hume historical religious religion Luxury is a word of uncertain signification, and may be taken in a good as in a bad sense David Hume luxury taken may Never literary attempt was more unfortunate than my Treatise of Human Nature. It fell dead-born from the press. David Hume unfortunate born human-nature Apart from the representational content of an idea there is another component: its force and vivacity, its impetus. David Hume vivacity force ideas
