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 sentiment is right; because sentiment has a reference to nothing beyond itself, and is always real, wherever a man is conscious of it. But all determinations of the understanding are not right; because they have a reference to something beyond themselves, to wit, real matter of fact; and are not always conformable to that standard.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Sentiment is inherently valid, as it exists in our consciousness, while understanding may not always align with reality.
David Hume's quote suggests that our feelings and sentiments are valid in themselves, existing independently within our consciousness. In contrast, our judgments and understanding, which aim to refer to external realities, are not always accurate because they rely on external facts that can be misinterpreted or misunderstood. This insight emphasizes the complexity of human perception and the distinction between emotional truth and factual accuracy.
Themes
SentimentUnderstandingRealityPhilosophyConsciousness
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophical discussion about the nature of emotions versus reason.
More from David Hume
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.
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
I was raised a Christian and was a stone-faced acid head.
Ken KeseyRead
We can do nothing without the body, let us always take care that it is in the best condition to sustain us.
SocratesRead
The will is not free - it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect - but there is something behind the will which is free.
Swami VivekanandaRead
Retire at various times into the solitude of your own heart, even while outwardly engaged in discussions or transactions with others, and talk to God.
Saint Francis De SalesRead
Those who cannot renounce attachment to the results of their work are far from the path.
Mahatma GandhiRead
This is another lie. We are only seeking Man. We have no need of other worlds. A single world, our own, suffices us; but we can't accept it for what it is. We are searching for an ideal image of our own world: we go in quest of a planet, a civilization superior to our own but developed on the basis of a prototype of our primeval past.
Stanislaw LemRead