It Is Certain That The Easy And

Nothing Can Be More Unphilosophical Than To Be Positive Or Dogmatical On Any Subject; And Even If Excessive Scepticism Could Be Maintained It Would Not Be More Destructive To All Just Reasoning And Inquiry. When Men Are The Most Sure And Arrogant, They Are Commonly The Most Mistaken, And Have There Given Reins To Passion, Without That Proper Deliberation And Suspense Which Can Alone Secure Them From The Grossest Absurdities.

No Advantages In This World Are Pure And Unmixed.

... Superstitions, Which, Being Unable To Defend Themselves On Fair Ground, Raise These Intangling Brambles To Cover And Protect Their Weakness. Chased From The Open Country, These Robbers Fly Into The Forest, And Lie In Wait To Break In Upon Every Unguarded Avenue Of The Mind, And Overwhelm It With Religious Fears And Prejudices. ... The Idea Of God, As Meaning An Infinitely Intelligent, Wise And Good Being, Arises From Reflecting On The Operations Of Our Own Mind, And Augmenting, Without Limit, Those Qualities Of Goodness And Wisdom.

Habit May Lead Us To Belief And Expectation But Not To The Knowledge, And Still Less To The Understanding, Of Lawful Relations.

Tis Evident That All Reasonings Concerning Matter Of Fact Are Founded On The Relation Of Cause And Effect, And That We Can Never Infer The Existence Of One Object From Another, Unless They Be Connected Together, Either Mediately Or Immediately... Here Is A Billiard Ball Lying On The Table, And Another Ball Moving Toward It With Rapidity. They Strike; And The Ball Which Was Formerly At Rest Now Acquires A Motion. This Is As Perfect An Instance Of The Relation Of Cause And Effect As Any Which We Know, Either By Sensation Or Reflection.