David Hume

"The quality of our relationships is the true measure of a well-lived life."

"Solitude allows the mind to recover its strength and return to the world renewed."

"The only true defeat is the refusal to try again after failure."

"Understanding ourselves is the prerequisite for understanding others."

"The pursuit of knowledge is an endless journey, not a destination to be reached."

"Our deepest beliefs are often shaped by influences we scarcely recognize."

"The measure of a society is not its wealth, but the virtue of its people."

"Custom is the great guide of human life."

"The life of man is of some importance to himself."

"Beauty in things exists in the mind which contemplates them."

"Nothing is so unphilosophical as to be surprised at anything in nature."

"We must renounce the theory that the mind is furnished with a set of ideas."

"Books alone are not sufficient; the experience of life is also necessary."

"Reason is the slave of the passions."

"The hearts of men are made of the same materials as the hearts of other creatures."

"All knowledge degenerates into probability."

"Generally speaking, the errors and follies of mankind are more owing to cowardice than to want of sense."

"Ambition when it is a ruling passion becomes a most destructive vice."

"The virtues of men are of more consequence than their vices."

"There are different relaxations of the mind, as there are different kinds of business."

"Truth springs from argument amongst friends."

"When I enter most intimately into what I call myself, I always stumble on some particular perception."

"No passion is so contagious as that of fear."

"The greatest good we can do is to advance the happiness of our kind."

"Man is a reasonable creature but he is also a very foolish one."

"The understanding exerts itself after two different ways."

"Politics may be reduced to a science."

"All humanity is bound together by mutual good will and sympathy."

"There is no universal principle which will justify us in extending our benevolence to all creatures."

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