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David Hume Quotes

Biography

David Hume (1711-1776) was a Scottish Enlightenment philosopher, historian, and essayist, best known for his works "A Treatise of Human Nature" (1739-1740) and "An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding" (1748). His empirical approach to philosophical questions challenged the rationalist traditions of his time. more David Hume (1711-1776) was a Scottish Enlightenment philosopher, historian, and essayist, best known for his works "A Treatise of Human Nature" (1739-1740) and "An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding" (1748). His empirical approach to philosophical questions challenged the rationalist traditions of his time. Hume's "History of England" (1754-1762) established him as a leading historian, providing a detailed account from the Roman conquest to the Glorious Revolution. He also served as a diplomat, contributing significantly to British foreign policy. Hume's skepticism about religion and his theory of knowledge, emphasizing human experience over abstract reasoning, remain central to philosophical discourse. He passed away on August 25, 1776, in Edinburgh. less

Popular Quotes

"All the arts and sciences have a mutual connection and dependance on each other"
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"Nothing is more surprising than the easiness with which the many are governed by the few"
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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 within himself is the standard of sentiment"
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"Beauty is no quality in things themselves. It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them"
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"Man is a reasonable being and as such he always continues to act as if he were a free agent though he is in fact otherwise"
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"All plans of government which suppose great reformation in the manners of mankind are plainly imaginary"
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"Human happiness seems to consist in three ingredients action pleasure and indolence"
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"The rules of morality are not the conclusions of our reason"
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"Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions"
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"No man ever threw away life while it was worth keeping"
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"Heaven and Hell suppose two distinct species of men the good and the bad But the greatest part of mankind float between vice and virtue"
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"The corruption of the best things gives rise to the worst"
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"Be a philosopher but amid all your philosophy be still a man"
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"Reading and sauntering and lounging and dosing which I call thinking is my supreme Happiness"
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"The heights of popularity and patriotism are still the beaten road to power and tyranny"
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