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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Humans tend to project their own emotions and ideas onto the world around them.
David Hume's quote highlights a fundamental aspect of human nature, suggesting that individuals often interpret external objects and experiences through the lens of their own emotions and thoughts. This projection can shape perceptions and interactions with the world, leading people to recognize and attribute feelings and ideas to things based on their own internal states, rather than the inherent qualities of those objects or experiences.
Themes
Human NatureEmotionsPerceptionProjectionPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
A speaker at a psychology conference discussing how emotional intelligence affects our perceptions of others.
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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The great end of all human industry is the attainment of happiness
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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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... 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.
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