“People who invented the word charity, and used it in a good sense, inculcated more clearly, and much more efficaciously, the precept, Be charitable, than any pretended legislator or prophet, who should insert such a maxim in his writings.”

— David Hume, book Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary

Part I, Essay 22: Of the Standard of Taste
Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary (1741-2; 1748)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "People who invented the word charity, and used it in a good sense, inculcated more clearly, and much more efficaciously…" by David Hume?

David Hume photo

David Hume138

Scottish philosopher, economist, and historian 1711–1776

Related quotes

“Example is always more efficacious than precept.”

Samuel Johnson book The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia

Source: The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia (1759), Chapter 29

“A prophet is always much wider than his followers, much more liberal than those who label themselves with his name.”

Annie Besant (1847–1933) British socialist, theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator

Annie Besant the Life and Teachings of Muhammad (the Prophet of Islam) http://www.scribd.com/doc/178209678/Annie-Besant-the-Life-and-Teachings-of-Muhammad-the-Prophet-of-Islam

“I have written much less than most people who write; I have drunk much more than most people who drink.”

Guy Debord (1931–1994) French Marxist theorist, writer, filmmaker and founding member of the Situationist International (SI)

“Charity should be self-sustainable. That is, it should create more wealth rather than perpetuating the cycle of poverty and dependence. In this sense, the best form of charity would be providing quality education for children and more importantly, building a good character in them.”

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (1956) spiritual leader

Interview with Forbes Magazine (2009)

“In truth, most people already believe there is too much legislation and yearn for a more considered and more restricted approach. I embrace that sense of legislative restraint.”

Alex Salmond (1954) Scottish National Party politician and former First Minister of Scotland

Principles and Priorities : Programme for Government (September 5, 2007)

“The Good Samaritan was not a Hebrew. He was not one of “the chosen people.” He was a poor, “miserable heathen,” who knew nothing about the Jehovah of the Old Testament, and who had never heard of the “scheme of salvation.” And yet, according to Christ, he was far more charitable than the Levites—the priests of Jehovah, the highest of “the chosen people.” Is it not perfectly plain from this story that charity was in the world before Christianity was established?”

Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) Union United States Army officer

A Christmas Sermon (1890)

“There is no virtue in compulsory government charity, and there is no virtue in advocating it. A politician who portrays himself as caring and sensitive because he wants to expand the government's charitable programs is merely saying that he is willing to do good with other people's money. Well, who isn't? And a voter who takes pride in supporting such programs is telling us that he will do good with his own money — if a gun is held to his head.”

P. J. O'Rourke (1947) American journalist

How to Explain Conservatism to Your Squishy Liberal Friends: Individualism 'R' Us
Why I Am a Conservative (1996)

“One who knows little may explain that little with more ease and efficacy than one who has his head stuffed full of the prescribed bunch of official wisdom.”

Joseph Dietzgen (1828–1888) german philosopher

Letter 1
Letters on Logic: Especially Democratic-Proletarian Logic (1906)

“Pope has more virulence and less vehemence than any of the great satirists. His character of Sporus is the perfection of satirical writing. The very sound of words scarify before the sense strikes.”

Aubrey Beardsley (1872–1898) English illustrator and author

Table Talk" p. 64
Under the Hill and Other Essays (1904)

“We wrongly consider the Shaikh as someone who can remove our distress, take our worries away and fulfil our needs. We forget that those personalities who are granted such offices have to undergo more worldly trials than us commoners; they face more diseases and encounter greater difficulties than others. This is the Sunnah of the holy Prophet-saws who said, “I had to face more troubles than any other Prophet.””

Ameer Muhammad Akram Awan (1934–2017) Pakistani Sufi leader

Related topics