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.
David HumeRead
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.
David HumeRead
The great end of all human industry is the attainment of happiness
David HumeRead
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.
David HumeRead
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.
David HumeRead
Similar quotes
Where else could one find such a perfect combination of American values -- racism, militarism, capitalism -- all packaged in one 'ideal' symbol, a woman.
Robin MorganRead
Why does tragedy exist? Because you are full of rage. Why are you full of rage? Because you are full of grief.
Anne CarsonRead
There is nothing to take a manβs freedom away from him, save other men.
Ayn RandRead
The basis of a democratic state is liberty
AristotleRead
Painful memories didn't just ease back in-they shoved the door open hard, all of them and all at once
Harlan CobenRead
Psychology is ultimately mythology, the study of the stories of the soul.
James HillmanRead