Inspirational Quotations by David Hume (Scottish Philosopher, Historian)

David Hume (1711–76) was a Scottish philosopher, economist, and historian. He rejected the possibility of certainty in knowledge and claimed that all the data of reason stem from experience by the senses.

Born in Edinburgh, Hume was fascinated by literature and philosophy at a young age. He became obsessed with the idea of truth; it caused him to lose his faith when he was 18 years old. After finishing his studies, he moved to France for private studies, and wrote his Treatise of Human Nature (1739–40,) in which he argued that reasoning was merely the habit of the mind as it attempted to make sense of random events, and that reason would never be adequate to arrive at the ultimate cause of anything. He argued that it was impossible to go beyond the subjective experiences of impressions and ideas. He also wrote An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748,) An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (1751,) and Essays: Moral, Political, and Literary (1752.)

In 1755, the Church of England tried to prosecute Hume for his religious skepticism, but the case was dismissed. Hume thus became one of the first to openly question the existence of God without almost no consequences.

Hume’s philosophical writings went overlooked during his lifetime, and the considerable fame he achieved derived from his work as an essayist and a historian. While working as a librarian, Hume wrote the six-volume History of England (1762,) which became a best-seller for more than a century and gave him the financial independence to write and revise his many philosophical treatises.

Hume became the leading figure of a group of Scottish intellectuals, including the economist Adam Smith (who invented the study of economics,) Adam Ferguson (who helped invent sociology,) James Hutton (who invented geology,) Joseph Black and William Cullen (who invented modern chemistry,) James Watt (who developed the steam engine,) James Boswell (who wrote the biography of Samuel Johnson,) Walter Scott (who wrote the first great novel,) and Hugh Blair (the first University professor to teach a course in English literature.)

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