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
The corruption of the best things gives rise to the worst.
Interpretation
What this quote means
When the best qualities are corrupted, it can lead to the worst outcomes.
David Humeβs quote suggests that the degradation or corruption of virtuous and valuable qualities can result in negative consequences. This underlines the importance of preserving integrity and goodness, as their loss can give way to detrimental outcomes, reflecting a deeper philosophical understanding of morality and the nature of humanity.
Themes
CorruptionMoralityIntegrityConsequencesVirtue
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about ethics in business, one could say, 'Remember, the corruption of the best things gives rise to the worst.'
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.
David HumeRead
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