In our reasonings concerning matter of fact, there are all imaginable degrees of assurance, from the highest certainty to the lowest species of moral evidence. A wise man, therefore, proportions his belief to the evidence.
Human Nature is the only science of man; and yet has been hitherto the most neglected.
Generally speaking, the errors in religion are dangerous; those in philosophy only ridiculous.
The life of man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster.
Indulge your passion for science…but let your science be human, and such as may have a direct reference to action and society. Be a philosopher; but amidst all your philosophy, be still a man.
Philosophy would render us entirely Pyrrhonian, were not nature too strong for it.
Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them.…’Tis not contrary to reason to prefer the destruction of the whole world to the scratching of my finger.
The chief benefit, which results from philosophy, arises in an indirect manner, and proceeds more from its secret, insensible influence, than from its immediate application.