The Corruption Of The Best Things Gives

The Feelings Of Our Heart, The Agitation Of Our Passions, The Vehemence Of Our Affections, Dissipate All Its Conclusions, And Reduce The Profound Philosopher To A Mere Plebeian

The More Instances We Examine, And The More Care We Employ, The More Assurance Shall We Acquire, That The Enumeration, Which We Form From The Whole, Is Complete And Entire.

It Is Certain That The Easy And Obvious Philosophy Will Always, With The Generality Of Mankind, Have Preference Above The Accurate.

In All Determinations Of Morality, This Circumstance Of Public Utility Is Ever Principally In View; And Wherever Disputes Arise, Either In Philosophy Or Common Life, Concerning The Bounds Of Duty, The Questions Cannot, By Any Means, Be Decided With Greater Certainty, Than By Ascertaining, On Any Side, The True Interests Of Mankind. If Any False Opinion, Embraced From Appearances, Has Been Found To Prevail; As Soon As Farther Experience And Sounder Reasoning Have Given Us Juster Notions Of Human Affairs, We Retract Our First Sentiment, And Adjust Anew The Boundaries Of Moral Good And Evil.

Courage, Of All National Qualities, Is The Most Precarious; Because It Is Exerted Only At Intervals, And By A Few In Every Nation; Whereas Industry, Knowledge, Civility, May Be Of Constant And Universal Use, And For Several Ages, May Become Habitual To The Whole People.