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
... The idea of God, as meaning an infinitely intelligent, wise and good Being, arises from reflecting on the operations of our own mind, and augmenting, without limit, those qualities of goodness and wisdom.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The concept of God is a reflection of our own intellectual and moral attributes, magnified infinitely.
David Hume's quote suggests that the idea of God as an all-knowing, benevolent entity stems from our understanding of our own intelligence and morality. By contemplating our mental processes and positive traits, we expand these qualities to an infinite degree to conceive a divine being that embodies ultimate wisdom and goodness.
Themes
GodIntelligenceWisdomGoodnessPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophical discussion about the nature of divinity.
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.
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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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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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