“ Whether a man be generous, or a miser, he is equally well received by her, and obtains with the same facility a decision in his favours, even for what is entirely useless to him. ”
David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature (1738). copy citation
| Author | David Hume |
|---|---|
| Source | A Treatise of Human Nature |
| Topic | decision useless |
| Date | 1738 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4705/4705-h/4705-h.htm |
Context
“and this end would never be attained, were we allowed to apply this rule differently in every particular case, according to every particular utility, which might be discovered in such an application. Justice, in her decisions, never regards the fitness or unfitness of objects to particular persons, but conducts herself by more extensive views. Whether a man be generous, or a miser, he is equally well received by her, and obtains with the same facility a decision in his favours, even for what is entirely useless to him.
It follows therefore, that the general rule, that possession must be stable, is not applied by particular judgments, but by other general rules, which must extend to the whole society, and be inflexible either by spite or favour.”
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