An Essay Concerning Human Understanding Vol. 2 - new book

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: i leads to a. better. How fhort foever their knowledge may come of an univerfal or perfect comprehenfion of v hatfocver is, it yet fecurcs their great concernments, that they have light enough to lead them to the knowledge of their maker, and the fight of their own duties. Men may find matter fufficient to bufy their heads, and employ their hands with variety, delight and fatis- faction; if they will not boldly quarrel with their own conftitution, and throw away the bleflings their hands are filled with, becaufe they are not big enough to grafp every thing. We (hall not have much reafon to complain of the narrownefs of our minds, if we will but employ them about what may be of ufe to us; for of that they are very capable: and it will be an unpardonable, as well as childifh pecvifhnefs, if we undervalue the advantages of our knowledge, and neglect to improve it to the ends for which it was given us, becaufe there are fome things that are fet out of the reach of it. It will be no excufe to an idle and untoward fervant, wno would not attend his bufinefs by candle-light, to plead that he had not broad fun-mine. The candle, that is fct up in us, (nines bright enough for all our purpofcs. The difcoveries we can make with this, ought to fatisfy us; and we fhall then ufe our undcr- (landings right, when we entertain all objects in that way and proportion that they are fuited to our faculties, and upon thofc grounds they are capable of being pro- pofed to us; and not peremptorily, or intemperatcly require demonftration, and demand certainty, where probability only is to be had, and which is fufficient to govern all our concernments. If we will difbelieve every thing, becaufe we cannot certainly know all things; we fliall do mu'chwliat as wifely as he, who would not ufe his legs, ' but f...