The first precept was never to accept a thing as true until I knew it as such without a single doubt.

Quote by Rene Descartes

Topics: Rene Descartes Quotes

Dubito ergo cogito; cogito ergo sum. (I doubt, therefore I think; I think therefore I...

Dubito ergo cogito; cogito ergo sum. (I doubt, therefore I think; I think therefore I...

An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why must the pessimist...

An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why must the pessimist...

One cannot conceive anything so strange and so implausible that it has not already been...

One cannot conceive anything so strange and so implausible that it has not already been...

Of all things, good sense is the most fairly distributed: everyone thinks he is so...

Of all things, good sense is the most fairly distributed: everyone thinks he is so...

If I found any new truths in the sciences, I can say that they follow...

If I found any new truths in the sciences, I can say that they follow...

Everybody thinks himself so well supplied with common sense that even those most difficult to...

Everybody thinks himself so well supplied with common sense that even those most difficult to...

The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of...

The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of...

In order to improve the mind, we ought less to learn, than to contemplate

In order to improve the mind, we ought less to learn, than to contemplate

It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use...

It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use...

I think therefore I exist.

I think therefore I exist.

The first precept was never to accept a thing as true until I knew it...

The first precept was never to accept a thing as true until I knew it...

The two operations of our understanding, intuition and deduction, on which alone we have said...

The two operations of our understanding, intuition and deduction, on which alone we have said...

One cannot conceive anything so strange and so implausible that it has not already been...

One cannot conceive anything so strange and so implausible that it has not already been...

In order to improve the mind, we ought less to learn, than to contemplate.

In order to improve the mind, we ought less to learn, than to contemplate.

Except our own thoughts, there is nothing absolutely in our power.

Except our own thoughts, there is nothing absolutely in our power.

The greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices as well as of the greatest...

The greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices as well as of the greatest...

The greatest minds, as they are capable of the highest excellencies, are open likewise to...

The greatest minds, as they are capable of the highest excellencies, are open likewise to...

When it is not in our power to follow what is true, we ought to...

When it is not in our power to follow what is true, we ought to...

Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of...

Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of...

I am indeed amazed when I consider how weak my mind is and how prone...

I am indeed amazed when I consider how weak my mind is and how prone...