Hume, David

"The greatest severity of judgment is exercised towards others in the very same case in which we ourselves would be punished for a much smaller fault."

"There is no view of human life or of the condition of mankind, from which we may not draw some instruction."

"Superstition is a system of religion which has been adopted by ignorance and perpetuated by fear."

"A man is unlucky if his talents are not suited to his age."

"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers."

"Nothing can be more useful to the sciences than the history of sciences."

"The prevalence of the mechanical philosophy came later, but by the time of Hume it had become the dominant intellectual force."

"We speak not strictly and philosophically when we talk of the combat of passion and of reason."

"It is not reason which is the guide of life, but habit and custom."

"The life of man is of some importance to himself and he is capable of reflecting on past and future."

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the judgment that something else is more important."

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

"Liberty or freedom is accurately defined as consisting in the power of acting or of not acting, according to the determinations of the will."

"What is the foundation of mathematics, geometry, or architecture? Certainly not the abstract sciences, but human convenience and utility."

"I never asserted so absurd an opinion as that anything might arise without a cause."

"The heart has its reasons which the reason knows nothing of."

"A true friend is the greatest of all blessings."

"Death is nothing at all. It does not count. I have only slipped away to the next room."

"Patience is a virtue that we should practice, though we cannot perfect it."

"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others."

"The mind, when it turns its view inward, perceives nothing but its own perceptions."

"There is nothing in the world more powerful than an idea whose time has come."

"All moral distinctions arise from human sentiment."

"The more we know, the more we realize how little we know."

"Imagination is more important than knowledge, for knowledge is limited."

"The greatest pleasure is in being admired by others."

"Men are much governed by the circumstances in which they are placed."

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

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

"Time is a human construction, a way of organizing experience."