"But TERENCE and VIRGIL maintain an universal, undisputed empire over the minds of men."
— Hume, David (1711-1776)
Author
Work Title
Date
1757, 1777
Metaphor
"But TERENCE and VIRGIL maintain an universal, undisputed empire over the minds of men."
Metaphor in Context
But in reality the difficulty of finding, even in particulars, the standard of taste, is not so great as it is represented. Though in speculation, we may readily avow a certain criterion in science and deny it in sentiment, the matter is found in practice to be much more hard to ascertain in the former case than in the latter. Theories of abstract philosophy, systems of profound theology, have prevailed during one age: In a successive period, these have been universally exploded: Their absurdity has been detected: Other theories and systems have supplied their place, which again gave place to their successors: And nothing has been experienced more liable to the revolutions of chance and fashion than these pretended decisions of science. The case is not the same with the beauties of eloquence and poetry. Just expressions of passion and nature are sure, after a little time, to gain public applause, which they maintain for ever. ARISTOTLE, and PLATO, and EPICURUS, and DESCARTES, may successively yield to each other: But TERENCE and VIRGIL maintain an universal, undisputed empire over the minds of men. The abstract philosophy of CICERO has lost its credit: The vehemence of his oratory is still the object of our admiration.
(cf. pp. 230-231 in 1757 printing)
(cf. pp. 230-231 in 1757 printing)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "empire" and "passion" in Past Masters
Citation
At least 12 entries in ESTC (1757, 1758, 1760, 1764, 1768, 1770, 1777, 1779, 1780, 1784, 1793, 1800).
First published in Four Dissertations. I. The Natural History of Religion. II. Of the Passions. III. Of Tragedy. IV. Of the Standard of Taste. By David Hume, Esq. (London: Printed for A. Millar, in the Strand, 1757). <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.
First published in Four Dissertations. I. The Natural History of Religion. II. Of the Passions. III. Of Tragedy. IV. Of the Standard of Taste. By David Hume, Esq. (London: Printed for A. Millar, in the Strand, 1757). <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.
Date of Entry
05/03/2005
