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
All the sciences have a relation, greater or less, to human nature; and...however wide any of them may seem to run from it, they still return back by one passage or another. Even Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, and Natural Religion, are in some measure dependent on the science of MAN; since they lie under the cognizance of men, and are judged of by their powers and faculties.
Interpretation
What this quote means
All fields of science relate to human nature in some way.
David Hume emphasizes that despite the apparent distance of various sciences from human nature, they ultimately connect back to it. This connection highlights that even the most abstract disciplines, such as mathematics and philosophy, are influenced by human perception and reasoning, underscoring the intrinsic link between humanity and all forms of knowledge.
Themes
ScienceHuman NaturePhilosophyKnowledgeMathematics
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on the philosophy of science, this quote could be used to highlight the importance of connecting scientific study to human experience.
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All quotes →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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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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