Citat af Hume om universiteter

On the other Hand, Learning has been as great a Loser by being shut up in Colleges and Cells, and secluded from the World and good Company. By that Means, every Thing of what we call Belles Lettres became totally barbarous, being cultivated by Men without any Taste of Life or Manners, and without that Liberty and Facility of Thought and Expression, which can only be acquired by Conversation. Even Philosophy went to Wrack by this moping recluse Method of Study, and became as chimerical in her Conclusions as she was unintelligible in her Stile and Manner of Delivery. And indeed, what could be expected from Men who never consulted Experience in any of their Reasonings, or who never searched for that Experience, where alone it is to be found, in common Life and Conversation?", (Hume, of essay writing), ja og så kan vi jo næppe længere påstå at filosofiens slummer er noget vi har fundet på.