Quote

It is seldom, that liberty of any kind is lost all at once. Slavery has so frightful an aspect to men accustomed to freedom, that it must steal upon them by degrees, and must disguise itself in a thousand shapes, in order to be received.

David Hume

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David Hume
Age: 65 †
Born: 1711
Born: April 26
Died: 1776
Died: August 25
Economist
Essayist
Historian
Librarian
Philosopher
Writer
Edinburgh
Scotland
David Home
Hume
Order
Degrees
Frightful
Must
Shapes
Accustomed
Kind
Aspect
Steal
Men
Thousand
Disguise
Liberty
Received
Freedom
Seldom
Upon
Stealing
Lost
Slavery

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What is easy and obvious is never valued and even what is in itself difficult, if we come to knowledge of it without difficulty, and without and stretch of thought or judgment, is but little regarded.
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He is happy whom circumstances suit his temper but he Is more excellent who suits his temper to any circumstance.
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[priests are] the pretenders to power and dominion, and to a superior sanctity of character, distinct from virtue and good morals.
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Between married persons, the cement of friendship is by the laws supposed so strong as to abolish all division of possessions: andhas often, in reality, the force ascribed to it.
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If morality had naturally no influence on human passions and actions, it were in vain to take such pains to inculcate it and nothing would be more fruitless than that multitude of rules and precepts with which all moralists abound.
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Eloquence, at its highest pitch, leaves little room for reason or reflection, but addresses itself entirely to the desires and affections, captivating the willing hearers, and subduing their understanding.
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Be a philosopher but, amid all your philosophy be still a man.
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Mohammed praises [instances of] tretchery, inhumanity, cruelty, revenge, and bigotry that are utterly incompatible with civilized society.
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Habit may lead us to belief and expectation but not to the knowledge, and still less to the understanding, of lawful relations.
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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.
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Rousseau was mad but influential Hume was sane but had no followers.
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All inferences from experience... are effects of custom, not of reasoning.
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Where is the reward of virtue? and what recompense has nature provided for such important sacrifices as those of life and fortune, which we must often make to it? O sons of earth! Are ye ignorant of the value of this celestial mistress? And do ye meanly inquire for her portion, when ye observe her genuine beauty?
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From causes which appear similar, we expect similar effects. This is the sum total of all our experimental conclusions.
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History is the discovering of the principles of human nature.
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It is certain that the easy and obvious philosophy will always, with the generality of mankind, have preference above the accurate.
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That the sun shines tomorrow is a judgement that is as true as the contrary judgement.
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All power, even the most despotic, rests ultimately on opinion.
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