But To Proceed In This Reconciling Project

History Is The Discovering Of The Principles Of Human Nature.

Poets Themselves, Tho' Liars By Profession, Always Endeavour To Give An Air Of Truth To Their Fictions.

Few Enjoyments Are Given From The Open And Liberal Hand Of Nature; But By Art, Labor And Industry We Can Extract Them In Great Abundance. Hence, The Ideas Of Property Become Necessary In All Civil Society.

When Anyone Tells Me That He Saw A Dead Man Restored To Life, I Immediately Consider With Myself Whether It Be More Probable That This Person Should Either Deceive Or Be Deceived Or That The Fact Which He Relates Should Really Have Happened. I Weigh The One Miracle Against The Other And According To The Superiority Which I Discover, I Pronounce My Decision. Always I Reject The Greater Miracle. If The Falsehood Of His Testimony Would Be More Miraculous Than The Event Which He Relates, Then And Not Till Then, Can He Pretend To Command My Belief Or Opinion.

It Cannot Reasonably Be Doubted, But A Little Miss, Dressed In A New Gown For A Dancing-school Ball, Receives As Complete Enjoyment As The Greatest Orator, Who Triumphs In The Splendour Of His Eloquence, While He Governs The Passions And Resolutions Of A Numerous Assembly.