David Hume Quotes

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

The life of man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster.

Beauty in things exists in the mind which contemplates them.

Custom is the great guide of human life.

A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence.

The essence of morality is in the motives, not in the actions themselves.

Truth springs from argument amongst friends.

To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity and trust.

A propensity to hope and joy is real riches; one to fear and sorrow, real poverty.

The great end of all human industry is the attainment of happiness.

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

When men are most sure and arrogant they are commonly most mistaken.

The most lively thought is still inferior to the dullest sensation.

Nothing is more surprising than the easiness with which the many are governed by the few.

All mankind are selfish and interested.

A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion.

The life of man is too short to give scope to the vast variety of sensations.

A man of mild manners may form characters for many, while a man of more decided and daring address can only form characters for himself.

David Hume Quotes part 2

If we take in our hand any volume; of divinity or school metaphysics, for instance; let us ask, Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? No. Commit it then to the flames: for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion.

The common sense of mankind remains at every age the same.

The great advantage of the sciences is their capacity to disentangle us from prejudices.

It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once.

Riches are valuable only for their use; to the possessor, not to the spectator.

To be happy, the passion of fear is necessary.

The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.

Reason is not the source of our rules of conduct. It is the imperfect instrument by which we discover them.

The rules of justice are merely human inventions.

Where men are the most sure and arrogant, they are commonly the most mistaken.

In general, we may observe that the less government intermeddles in matter, the better constitution it possesses.

He is happy whose circumstances suit his temper, but he is more excellent who can suit his temper to any circumstances.

Death is more terrible to a full than to an empty stomach.

No one can be at a loss to discover the immediate cause of whatever is to be found existing at any time.

It is universally acknowledged that there is a great uniformity among the actions of men, in all nations and ages.

Beauty in itself is not pleasurable, but is a quality that produces pleasure by being perceived.

The life of an individual is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster.

The word ‘necessary’ is always, and without any exception, used for that which is good.

A wise man proportions his beliefs to the evidence.

Truth springs from argument amongst friends.

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

A wise man, therefore, proportions his belief to the evidence.

Any relations may be contrary, provided they are only contrary.

A miracle is a violation of the laws of nature.

Custom, then, is the great guide of human life.

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

Beauty is no quality in things themselves: It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them, and each mind perceives a different beauty.

Every effect must have a cause.

The Christian religion not only sanctions, but even recommends, the unnatural treatment of slaves.

As reason is the only faculty by which we discover the relations of objects, the only faculty we have to judge of their connexion, it is by no means possible for us to yield the assent of our reason to anything that is contrary to plain and obvious relations of ideas.

Justice, when once rendered completely independent, will render those who are possessed of mere power rather the slaves than the masters of all the other members of society.

The essence of morality is in the motives, not in the actions themselves.