BOOK I PART I
that it always produces a connexion or associ-
ation of ideas. When a quality becomes very
general, and is common to a great many indi-
viduals, it leads not the mind directly to any
one of them; but by presenting at once too great
a choice, does thereby prevent the imagination
from fixing on any single object.
(2)Identitymay be esteemed a second species
of relation. This relation I here consider as ap-
plied in its strictest sense to constant and un-
changeable objects; without examining the na-
ture and foundation of personal identity, which
shall find its place afterwards. Of all relations
the most universal is that of identity, being
common to every being whose existence has
any duration.
(3) After identity the most universal and
comprehensive relations are those ofspaceand