Hume, David (1711-1776)

The Stoic [from Essays Moral and Political]

1742

"I need not tell you, that, by this eager pursuit of pleasure, you more and more expose yourself to fortune and accidents, and rivet your affections on external objects, which chance may, in a moment, ravish from you."

I need not tell you, that, by this eager pursuit of pleasure, you more and more expose yourself to fortune and accidents, and rivet your affections on external objects, which chance may, in a moment, ravish from you. I shall suppose, that your indulgent stars favour you still with the enjoyment of your riches and possessions. I prove to you, that even in the midst of your luxurious pleasures, you are unhappy; and that by too much indulgence, you are incapable of enjoying what prosperous fortune still allows you to possess.
(p. 150)

Uncategorized::Rivet

Reading

At least 15 entries in ESTC (1742, 1748, 1753, 1757, 1758, 1760, 1764, 1768, 1770, 1777, 1779, 1780, 1784, 1793, 1800).

First published in Essays, Moral and Political. Volume II. (Edinburgh: Printed for A. Kincaid, near the Cross, by R. Fleming and A. Alison, 1742). <Link to ESTC>

Text from Past Masters and Online Library of Liberty. Reading Essays, Moral, Political and Literary, rev. ed. (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1987). The Liberty Fund editor, Eugene F. Miller, takes the 1777 edition of Hume's essays as his copy text.

02/20/2011