Full Idea
An inducement to pronouncing ourselves ignorant of the nature of things is the opinion that everything includes within itself the cause of its properties; or that there is in each object an inward essence which is the source whence its qualities flow.
Gist of Idea
If properties and qualities arise from an inward essence, we will remain ignorant of nature
Source
George Berkeley (The Principles of Human Knowledge [1710], §102)
Book Reference
Berkeley,George: 'The Principles of Human Knowledge etc.', ed/tr. Warnock,G.J. [Fontana 1962], p.115
A Reaction
This remains a good objection to essentialism - that while it remains quite a plausible picture of how nature operates, it makes the task of understanding nature hopeless. We can grasp imposed regular laws, but not secret inner essences.