text,updated_at,metaphor,created_at,context,theme,reviewed_on,dictionary,comments,provenance,id,work_id
"The great judge of the world, has, for the wisest reasons, thought proper to interpose, between the weak eye of reason, and the throne of his eternal justice, a degree of obscurity and darkness, which though it does not intirely cover the great tribunal from the view of mankind, yet renders the impression of it faint and feeble in comparison of what might be expected from the grandeur and importance of so might an object. If those infinite rewards and punishments which the Almighty has prepared for those who obey or transgress his will, were perceived as distinctly as we forsee the frivolous and temporary retaliations which we may expect from one another, the weakness of human nature, astonished at the immensity of objects so little fitted to its comprehension, could no longer attend to the little affairs of this world; and it is absolutely necessary that the business of society could have been carried on, if, in this respect, there had been a fuller revelation of the intentions of providence that that which has already been made. That men, however, might never be without a rule to direct their conduct by, not without a judge whose authority should enforce its observation, the author of nature has made man the immediate judge of mankind, and has, in this respect, as in many others, created him after his own image, and appointed him viceregent upon earth to superintend the behaviour of his brethren. They are taught by nature to acknowledge that power and jurisdiction which has thus been conferred upon him, and to tremble and exult according as they imagine that they have either merited his censure, or deserved his applause.
(pp. 203-4; cf. p. 128n in Liberty Fund ed.)",2014-06-19 16:28:09 UTC,"""The great judge of the world, has, for the wisest reasons, thought proper to interpose, between the weak eye of reason, and the throne of his eternal justice, a degree of obscurity and darkness, which though it does not intirely cover the great tribunal from the view of mankind, yet renders the impression of it faint and feeble in comparison of what might be expected from the grandeur and importance of so might an object.""",2014-06-19 16:28:09 UTC,"",Mind's Eye,,"","",Reading,23986,7933
"But whatever may be the authority of this inferiour tribunal which is continually before their eyes, if at any time it should decide contrary to those principles and rules, which nature has established for regulating its judgments, men feel that they may appeal from this unjust decision, and call upon a superiour tribunal, the tribunal established in their own breasts, to redress the injustice of this weak and partial judgment.
(p. 205; cf. p. 128n in Liberty Fund ed.)",2014-06-19 16:29:42 UTC,"""But whatever may be the authority of this inferiour tribunal which is continually before their eyes, if at any time it should decide contrary to those principles and rules, which nature has established for regulating its judgments, men feel that they may appeal from this unjust decision, and call upon a superiour tribunal, the tribunal established in their own breasts, to redress the injustice of this weak and partial judgment.""",2014-06-19 16:29:42 UTC,"","",,Court,"",Reading,23987,7933
"But it is otherwise if we have either applauded or condemned him, contrary to those principles and rules which nature has established for the direction of our judgments concerning everything of this kind. If we have either applauded or condemned him for what, when he puts himself into our situation, does not appear to him to be the object either of applause or condemnation; as in this case he cannot enter into our sentiments, provided he has any constancy or firmness, he is but little affected by them, and can neither be much elevated by the favourable, nor greatly mortified by the unfavourable decision. The applause of the whole world will avail but little if our own conscience condemn us; and the disapprobation of all mankind is not capable of oppressing us, when we are absolved by the tribunal within our own breast, and when our mind tells us that mankind are in the wrong.
(p. 206; cf. p. 129n in Liberty Fund ed.)",2014-06-19 16:30:30 UTC,"""The applause of the whole world will avail but little if our own conscience condemn us; and the disapprobation of all mankind is not capable of oppressing us, when we are absolved by the tribunal within our own breast, and when our mind tells us that mankind are in the wrong.""",2014-06-19 16:30:30 UTC,"","",,Court,"",Reading,23988,7933
"But though this tribunal within the breast be thus the supreme arbiter of all our action, though it can reverse the decisions of all mankind with regard to our character and conduct, and mortify us amidst the applause or support us under the censure of the world; yet, if we enquire into the origin of its institution, its jurisdiction we shall find is in a great measure derived from the authority of that very tribunal, whose decisions it so often and so justly reverses.
(pp. 206-7; cf. p. 129n in Liberty Fund ed.)",2014-06-19 16:31:23 UTC,"""But though this tribunal within the breast be thus the supreme arbiter of all our action, though it can reverse the decisions of all mankind with regard to our character and conduct, and mortify us amidst the applause or support us under the censure of the world; yet, if we enquire into the origin of its institution, its jurisdiction we shall find is in a great measure derived from the authority of that very tribunal, whose decisions it so often and so justly reverses.""",2014-06-19 16:31:23 UTC,"","",,Court,INTEREST: metaphor of tribunal modeled on court itself?,Reading,23989,7933
"[...] In order to defend ourselves from such partial judgments, we soon learn to set up in our own minds a judge between ourselves and those we live with. We conceive ourselves as acting in the presence of a person quite candid and equitable, of one who has no particular relation either to ourselves, or to those whose interested are affected by our conduct, who is neither father, nor brother, nor friend either to them or to us, but is merely a man in general, an impartial spectator who considers our conduct with the same indifference with which we regard that of other people. If, when we place ourselves in the situation of such a person, our own actions appear to us under an agreeable aspect, if we feel that such a spectator cannot avoid entering into all the motives which influenced us, whatever may be the judgments of the world, we must still be pleased with our own behaviour, and regard ourselves, in spite of the censure of our companions, as the just and proper objects of approbation.
(pp. 207-8; cf. p. 129n. in Liberty Fund ed.)",2014-06-19 16:32:08 UTC,"""In order to defend ourselves from such partial judgments, we soon learn to set up in our own minds a judge between ourselves and those we live with.""",2014-06-19 16:32:08 UTC,"","",,Court,"",Reading,23990,7933
"On the contrary, if the man within condemns us, the loudest acclamations of mankind appear but as the noise of ignorance and folly, and whenever we assume the character of this impartial judge, we cannot avoid viewing our actions with his distaste and dissatisfaction. The weak, the vain, and the frivolous, indeed, may be mortified by the most groundless censure, or elated by the most absurd applause. Such persons are not accustomed to consult the judge within concerning the opinion which they ought to form of their own conduct. This inmate of the breast, this abstract man, the representative of mankind, and substitute of the Deity, whom nature has constituted the supreme judge of all their actions is seldom appealed to by them. They are contented with the decision of the inferiour tribunal. The approbation of their companions, of the particular persons whom they have lived and conversed with, has generally been the ultimate object of all their wishes. If they obtain this, their joy is compleat; and if they fail, they are entirely disappointed. [...]
(pp. 208-9; cf. 130 in Liberty Fund ed.)",2014-06-19 16:32:57 UTC,"""On the contrary, if the man within condemns us, the loudest acclamations of mankind appear but as the noise of ignorance and folly, and whenever we assume the character of this impartial judge, we cannot avoid viewing our actions with his distaste and dissatisfaction.""",2014-06-19 16:32:57 UTC,"","",,Inhabitants,"",Reading,23991,7933
"On the contrary, if the man within condemns us, the loudest acclamations of mankind appear but as the noise of ignorance and folly, and whenever we assume the character of this impartial judge, we cannot avoid viewing our actions with his distaste and dissatisfaction. The weak, the vain, and the frivolous, indeed, may be mortified by the most groundless censure, or elated by the most absurd applause. Such persons are not accustomed to consult the judge within concerning the opinion which they ought to form of their own conduct. This inmate of the breast, this abstract man, the representative of mankind, and substitute of the Deity, whom nature has constituted the supreme judge of all their actions is seldom appealed to by them. They are contented with the decision of the inferiour tribunal. The approbation of their companions, of the particular persons whom they have lived and conversed with, has generally been the ultimate object of all their wishes. If they obtain this, their joy is compleat; and if they fail, they are entirely disappointed. [...]
(pp. 208-9; cf. 130 in Liberty Fund ed.)",2014-06-19 16:33:55 UTC,"""Such persons are not accustomed to consult the judge within concerning the opinion which they ought to form of their own conduct.""",2014-06-19 16:33:35 UTC,"","",,Court and Inhabitants,"",Reading,23992,7933
"On the contrary, if the man within condemns us, the loudest acclamations of mankind appear but as the noise of ignorance and folly, and whenever we assume the character of this impartial judge, we cannot avoid viewing our actions with his distaste and dissatisfaction. The weak, the vain, and the frivolous, indeed, may be mortified by the most groundless censure, or elated by the most absurd applause. Such persons are not accustomed to consult the judge within concerning the opinion which they ought to form of their own conduct. This inmate of the breast, this abstract man, the representative of mankind, and substitute of the Deity, whom nature has constituted the supreme judge of all their actions is seldom appealed to by them. They are contented with the decision of the inferiour tribunal. The approbation of their companions, of the particular persons whom they have lived and conversed with, has generally been the ultimate object of all their wishes. If they obtain this, their joy is compleat; and if they fail, they are entirely disappointed. [...]
(pp. 208-9; cf. 130 in Liberty Fund ed.)",2014-06-19 16:35:33 UTC,"""This inmate of the breast, this abstract man, the representative of mankind, and substitute of the Deity, whom nature has constituted the supreme judge of all their actions is seldom appealed to by them.""",2014-06-19 16:35:33 UTC,"","",,Court,"",Reading,23993,7933
"It is only by consulting this judge within, that we can see whatever relates to ourselves in its proper shape and dimensions, or that we can make any proper comparison between our own interests and those of other men.
(pp. 209-10)",2014-06-19 16:41:53 UTC,"""It is only by consulting this judge within, that we can see whatever relates to ourselves in its proper shape and dimensions, or that we can make any proper comparison between our own interests and those of other men.""",2014-06-19 16:41:53 UTC,"","",,Court,"",Reading,23997,7933
"As to the eye of the body, objects appear great or small, not so much according to their real dimensions as according to the nearness or distance of their situation; so do they likewise to what may be called the natural eye of the mind: and we remedy the defects of both these organs pretty much in the same manner. In my present situation, an immense landscape of lawns and woods, and distant mountains, seems to do no more than cover the little window which I write by, and to be out of all proportion less than the chamber in which I am sitting. I can form a just comparison between those great objects and the little objects around me, in no other way than by transporting myself, at least in fancy, to a different station, from whence I can survey both at nearly equal distances, and thereby form some judgment of their real proportions. Habit and experience have taught me to do this so easily and so readily, that I am scarce sensible that I do it; and a man must be, in some measure, acquainted with the philosophy of vision, before he can be thoroughly convinced how little those distant objects would appear to the eye, if the imagination, from a knowledge of their real magnitudes, did not swell and dilate them.
(text from OLL; cf. Liberty Fund edition; cf. p. 210 in 2nd ed.)",2014-06-19 16:43:46 UTC,"""As to the eye of the body, objects appear great or small, not so much according to their real dimensions as according to the nearness or distance of their situation; so do they likewise to what may be called the natural eye of the mind: and we remedy the defects of both these organs pretty much in the same manner.""",2014-06-19 16:43:46 UTC,"",Mind's Eye,,"","",Reading,23999,7933