Hume

Famous quotes containing the word hume:

    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.
    —David Hume (1711–1776)

    When we run over libraries persuaded of these principles, what havoc must we make? 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.
    —David Hume (1711–1776)

    This avidity alone, of acquiring goods and possessions for ourselves and our nearest friends, is insatiable, perpetual, universal, and directly destructive of society.
    —David Hume (1711–1776)