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
Heaven and hell suppose two distinct species of men, the good and the bad. But the greatest part of mankind float betwixt vice and virtue.
Interpretation
What this quote means
David Hume suggests that most people lie somewhere between good and evil, rather than fitting neatly into either category.
In this quote, David Hume reflects on the complexity of human nature, arguing that rather than being strictly divided into the archetypes of 'good' and 'bad', most individuals exhibit a blend of both virtues and vices. This perspective challenges simplistic moral classifications and acknowledges the nuanced reality of human behavior, where actions and intentions can't be easily categorized.
Themes
Human NatureVirtueViceComplexityMorality
In practice
Example use cases
In discussing ethics, I often refer to Hume's perspective on the intricacies of human behavior.
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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