Your corn is ripe today; mine will be so tomorrow. 'Tis profitable for us both, that I should labour with you today, and that you should aid me tomorrow.
David HumeRead
It is not contrary to reason to prefer the destruction of the whole world to the scratching of my finger.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that self-preservation can outweigh the value of the world itself when it comes to personal pain.
David Hume's quote proposes a radical perspective on the nature of suffering and self-interest. It implies that the pain or discomfort of an individual, represented metaphorically by 'the scratching of my finger', holds such significance that it can lead one to prioritize personal well-being over the greater good, even to the extent of the world's destruction. This insight challenges moral reasoning by emphasizing the weight of personal experience and subjective value in ethical considerations.
Themes
Self-PreservationPainMoral ReasoningIndividualismSuffering
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about personal ethics, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of individual suffering.
More from David Hume
All quotes βEloquence, 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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All that belongs to human understanding, in this deep ignorance and obscurity, is to be sceptical, or at least cautious, and not to admit of any hypothesis whatever, much less of any which is supported by no appearance of probability.
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The great end of all human industry is the attainment of happiness
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There is a very remarkable inclination in human nature to bestow on external objects the same emotions which it observes in itself, and to find every where those ideas which are most present to it.
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To have recourse to the veracity of the supreme Being, in order to prove the veracity of our senses, is surely making a very unexpected circuit.
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