For a being whose essence obliges him to have a constant tendency to his
own conservation, to continually seek to render himself happy,
experience is indispensible: without it he cannot discover truth, which
is nothing more, as has been already said, than a knowledge of the
constant relations which subsist between man, and those objects that act
upon him; according to his experience he denominates those that
contribute to his permanent welfare useful and salutary; those that
procure him pleasure, more or less durable, he calls agreeable. Truth
itself becomes the object of his desires, only when he believes it is
useful; he dreads it, whenever he presumes it will injure him. But has
truth the power to injure him? Is it possible that evil can result to
man from a correct understanding of the relations he has with other
beings? Can it be true, that he can be harmed by becoming acquainted
with those things, of which, for his own happiness, he is interested in
having a knowledge? No: unquestionably not. It is upon its utility that
truth founds its worth; upon this that it builds its rights; sometimes
it may be disagreeable to individuals--it may even appear contrary to
their interests--but it will ever be beneficial to them in the end; it
will always be useful to the whole human species; it will eternally
benefit the great bulk of mankind; whose interests must for ever remain
distinct from those of men, who, duped by their own peculiar passions,
believe their advantage consists in plunging others into error.

_Utility_, then, is the touchstone of his systems, the test of his
opinions, the criterion of the actions of man; it is the standard of the
esteem, the measure of the love he owes to truth itself: the most useful
truths are the most estimable: those truths which are most interesting
for his species, he styles _eminent_; those of which the utility limits