“ Men of wit always turn the discourse on subjects that are entertaining to the imagination ”
David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature (1738). copy citation
| Author | David Hume |
|---|---|
| Source | A Treatise of Human Nature |
| Topic | imagination wit |
| Date | 1738 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4705/4705-h/4705-h.htm |
Context
“We seldom reflect on what is beautiful or ugly, agreeable or disagreeable, without an emotion of pleasure or uneasiness; and though these sensations appear not much in our common indolent way of thinking, it is easy, either in reading or conversation, to discover them. Men of wit always turn the discourse on subjects that are entertaining to the imagination; and poets never present any objects but such as are of the same nature. Mr Philips has chosen CYDER for the subject of an excellent poem. Beer would not have been so proper, as being neither so agreeable to the taste nor eye.”
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