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
It is harder to avoid censure than to gain applause.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Avoiding criticism is more challenging than seeking approval from others.
This quote by David Hume highlights the notion that people often find it easier to seek praise than to dodge negative judgment. It suggests that societal expectations and scrutiny can be more daunting than the pursuit of accolades, emphasizing the power of public opinion and the challenges of living authentically amidst external evaluations.
Themes
CensureApplauseCriticismApprovalSociety
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be cited during a discussion on the challenges of public speaking.
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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