A Wise Man Proportions His Belief

From An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748), Section X, "Of Miracles." Hume uses this principle as the cornerstone of his famous argument against accepting miracle testimony: since the evidence from uniform human experience establishes the laws of nature, any claim that a miracle has occurred must be weighed against that overwhelming body of evidence, and our belief should be calibrated accordingly. The maxim encapsulates Hume's broader empiricist epistemology — that the strength of a belief should always be matched to the strength of the evidence supporting it, never exceeding it.