“ Custom, then, is the great guide of human life. ”
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748). copy citation
| Author | David Hume |
|---|---|
| Source | An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding |
| Topic | life custom guide |
| Date | 1748 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/9662/9662-h/9662-h.htm |
Context
“But no man, having seen only one body move after being impelled by another, could infer that every other body will move after a like impulse. All inferences from experience, therefore, are effects of custom, not of reasoning7.
Custom, then, is the great guide of human life. It is that principle alone which renders our experience useful to us, and makes us expect, for the future, a similar train of events with those which have appeared in the past.
Without the influence of custom, we should be entirely ignorant of every matter of fact beyond what is immediately present to the memory and senses.” source
Custom, then, is the great guide of human life. It is that principle alone which renders our experience useful to us, and makes us expect, for the future, a similar train of events with those which have appeared in the past.
Without the influence of custom, we should be entirely ignorant of every matter of fact beyond what is immediately present to the memory and senses.” source
Meaning and analysis
