Interpretation
What this David Hume quote asks you to notice
The operative phrase is “ever threw away life while it was worth keeping.” Ask what this line means by a good life: a feeling, a pattern of action, a relationship, or a judgment about value. Compare that answer with your own before turning the quote into a rule for happiness.
This page does not treat one sentence as a complete account of David Hume’s philosophy. It uses the quote as a reading prompt: identify the claim, test its limits, and follow the source before applying it as advice.
Source Lens
Follow the attribution, not just the image.
- Author
- David Hume
- Catalog source
- Essays on Suicide and the Immortality of the Soul
- Record
674336e1f44700430b574303- Reading status
- The catalog gives a named work but not an edition, translator, page, or section. Use the title to locate the passage, then compare the surrounding argument and wording.
Attribution note: Philosophia’s public record supplies the wording, author, and source label. It does not specify an edition or translator. Before academic use or republication, verify the line in a complete edition and cite that edition directly.
About David Hume
David Hume (1711-1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, and essayist who became one of the most influential figures in Western philosophy through his radical empiricism and skepticism. Born in Edinburgh to a modest but noble family, Hume's ideas challenged traditional metaphysics and revolutionized our understanding of human knowledge and moral psychology. His masterwork, "A Treatise of Human Nature" (1739-40), written when he was in his twenties, attempted to introduce the experimental method into moral…
A three-step reflection
- Identify the good the line places at the center of life.
- Ask whether that good is temporary, relational, chosen, or beyond control.
- Try one small practice that tests the idea without demanding a guaranteed mood.
Return to the exact wording after answering. If your conclusion could have been reached without reading the quote, look again for a distinction or assumption you missed.
Use this quote in Philosophia
Find David Hume in the app, save the line to a Happiness and meaning collection, and keep the source visible when you revisit it.
Use a widget or notification as the reminder, then open the app when the sentence deserves more than a glance. Compare it with another quote from the same thinker or school before deciding what it means for your day.