Joubert, Joseph -- Pensées [Thoughts], 1814 entry [tr. Auster (1983)]

Dave — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 19:34:10 +0000

Nothing is better than a justified enthusiasm.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], 1814 entry [tr. Auster (1983)]
(Source)

I could not find an analog in other translations of the Pensées.

Hume, David -- An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Sec. 10 “Of Miracles,” Part 1 (1748)

Dave — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 14:03:25 +0000

In our reasonings concerning matter of fact, there are all imaginable degrees of assurance, from the highest certainty to the lowest species of moral evidence. A wise man, therefore, proportions his belief to the evidence. […] No testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be more miraculous, than the fact, which it endeavors to establish.

David Hume (1711-1776) Scottish philosopher, economist, historian, empiricist
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Sec. 10 “Of Miracles,” Part 1 (1748)

Often given as just, "A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence."

WIST Quotations

Joubert, Joseph -- Pensées [Thoughts], 1814 entry [tr. Auster (1983)]

Hume, David -- An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Sec. 10 “Of Miracles,” Part 1 (1748)