Rene Descartes Quotes & Sayings

For indeed when painters themselves wish to represent sirens and satyrs [20] by means of especially bizarre forms, they surely cannot assign to them utterly new natures. Rather, they simply fuse together the members of various animals. Or if perhaps they concoct something so utterly novel that nothing like it has ever been seen before (and thus is something utterly fictitious and false), yet certainly at the very least the colors from which they fashion it ought to be true. And — Rene Descartes

For how do we know that the thoughts which occur in dreaming are false rather than those others which we experience when awake, since the former are often not less vivid and distinct than the latter? — Rene Descartes

The object of music is a Sound. The end; to delight, and move various Affections in us. — Rene Descartes

The thinking of the mind is twofold: understanding and willing. — Rene Descartes

It cannot be denied that he has had many exceptional ideas, and that he is a highly intelligent man. For my part, however, I have always been taught to take a broad overview of things, in order to be able to deduce from them general rules, which might be applicable elsewhere. — Rene Descartes

There is often not so much perfection in works composed of many pieces and made by the hands of various master craftsmen as there is in those works on which but a single individual has worked. — Rene Descartes

The majority of men is composed of two classes, for neither of which would this be at all a befitting resolution: in the first place, of those who with more than a due confidence in their own powers, are precipitate in their judgments and want the patience requisite for orderly and circumspect thinking; whence it happens, that if men of this class once take the liberty to doubt of their accustomed opinions, and quit the beaten highway, they will never be able to thread the byway that would lead them by a shorter course, and will lose themselves and continue to wander for life; in the second place, of those who, possessed of sufficient sense or modesty to determine that there are others who excel them in the power of discriminating between truth and error, and by whom they may be instructed, ought rather to content themselves with the opinions of such than trust for more correct to their own reason. — Rene Descartes

Doubt is the origin of wisdom — Rene Descartes

I am thinking, therefore I exist. ( ... ) I was a substance whose whole essence or nature is solely to think, and which does not require any place, or depend on any material thing, in order to exist. Accordingly this 'I' - that is, the soul by which I am what I am - is entirely distinct from the body, and indeed is easier to know than the body, and would not fail to be whatever it is, even if the body did not exist. — Rene Descartes

Science is practical philosophy. — Rene Descartes

It is best not to go on for great quest for truth , it will only make you miserable — Rene Descartes

For these reasons, as soon as my age permitted me to pass from under the control of my instructors, I entirely abandoned the study of letters, and resolved no longer to seek any other science than the knowledge of myself, or of the great book of the world. I spent the remainder of my youth in traveling, in visiting courts and armies, in holding intercourse with men of different dispositions and ranks, in collecting varied experience, in proving myself in the different situations into which fortune threw me, — Rene Descartes

Everything is self-evident. — Rene Descartes

I have concluded the evident existence of God, and that my existence depends entirely on God in all the moments of my life, that I do not think that the human spirit may know anything with greater evidence and certitude. — Rene Descartes

Thought I had said enough respecting them to show that there is nothing observable in the heavens or stars of our system that must not, or at least may not appear precisely alike in those of the system which I described. — Rene Descartes

Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has. — Rene Descartes

Reason is nothing without imagination. — Rene Descartes

That the reading of good books, is like the conversation with the honestest persons of the past age, who were the Authors of them, and even a studyed conversation, wherein they discover to us the best only of their thoughts. That eloquence hath forces & beauties which are incomparable. — Rene Descartes

The two operations of our understanding, intuition and deduction, on which alone we have said we must rely in the acquisition of knowledge. — Rene Descartes

Gratitude is a species of love, excited in us by some action of the person for whom we have it, and by which we believe that he has done some good to us, or at least that he has had the intention of doing so.

Passions, III, 193. XI, 473-474. Trans. John Morris — Rene Descartes

On the other hand, I compared the disquisitions of the ancient moralists to very towering and magnificent palaces with no better foundation than sand and mud: — Rene Descartes

There is a difference between happiness, the supreme good, and the final end or goal toward which our actions ought to tend. For happiness is not the supreme good, but presupposes it, being the contentment or satisfaction of the mind which results from possessing it. — Rene Descartes

that we conduct our thoughts along different ways, and do not fix our attention on the same objects. — Rene Descartes

As I considered the matter carefully it gradually came to light that all those matters only were referred to mathematics in which order and measurements are investigated, and that it makes no difference whether it be in numbers, figures, stars, sounds or any other object that the question of measurement arises. I saw consequently that there must be some general science to explain that element as a whole which gives rise to problems about order and measurement, restricted as these are to no special subject matter. This, I perceived was called 'universal mathematics'. — Rene Descartes

And thus, the actions of life often not allowing any delay, it is a truth very certain that, when it is not in our power to determine the most true opinions we ought to follow the most probable. — Rene Descartes

But, because I had already very clearly recognized in myself that the intelligent nature is distinct from the corporeal, — Rene Descartes

If we possessed a thorough knowledge of all the parts of the seed of any animal (e.g. man), we could from that alone, be reasons entirely mathematical and certain, deduce the whole conformation and figure of each of its members, and, conversely if we knew several peculiarities of this conformation, we would from those deduce the nature of its seed. — Rene Descartes

Just as we believe by faith that the greatest happiness of the next life consists simply in the contemplation of this divine majesty, likewise we experience that we derive the greatest joy of which we are capable in this life from the same contemplation, even though it is much less perfect. — Rene Descartes

What then is the source of my errors? They are owing simply to the fact that, since the will extends further than the intellect, I do not contain the will within the same boundaries; rather, I also extend it to things I do not understand. Because the will is indifferent in regard to such matters, it easily turns away from the true and the good; and in this way I am deceived and I sin. — Rene Descartes

Intuition is the undoubting conception of a pure and attentive mind, which arises from the light of reason alone, and is more certain than deduction. — Rene Descartes

And as regards the Soul, although many have judged that its nature could not be easily discovered, and some have even ventured to say that human reason led to the conclusion that it perished with the body, and that the contrary opinion could be held through faith alone; nevertheless, since the Lateran Council, held under Leo X. (in session viii.), condemns these, and expressly enjoins Christian philosophers to refute their arguments, and establish the truth according to their ability, I have ventured to attempt it in this work. 4. — Rene Descartes

Because reason ... is the only thing that makes us men, and distinguishes us from the beasts, I would prefer to believe that it exists, in its entirety, in each of us ... — Rene Descartes

The only thing that I know, is that I know nothing — Rene Descartes

But I cannot forget that, at other times I have been deceived in sleep by similar illusions; and, attentively considering those cases, I perceive so clearly that there exist no certain marks by which the state of waking can ever be distinguished from sleep, that I feel greatly astonished; and in amazement I almost persuade myself that I am now dreaming. — Rene Descartes

There is a little gland in the brain in which the soul exercises its functions in a more particular way than in the other parts. — Rene Descartes

On the one hand I have a clear and distinct idea of myself, in so far as I am a thinking, non-extended thing; and on the other hand I have a distinct idea of body, in so far a this is
simply an extended, non-thinking thing. And, accordingly, it is certain that I am really distinct from my body, and exist without it. — Rene Descartes

And what more am I? I look for aid to the imagination. [But how mistakenly!] I am not that assemblage of limbs we call the human body; I am not a subtle penetrating air distributed throughout all these members; I am not a wind, a fire, a vapor, a breath or anything at all that I can image. I am supposing all these things to be nothing. Yet I find, while so doing, that I am still assured that I am a something. — Rene Descartes

Conquer yourself rather than the world. — Rene Descartes

For, occupied incessantly with the consideration of the limits prescribed to their power by nature, they [philosophers of former times] became so entirely convinced that nothing was at their disposal except their own thoughts, that this conviction was of itself sufficient to prevent their entertaining any desire of other objects; and over their thoughts they acquired a sway so absolute, that they had some ground on this account for esteeming themselves more rich and more powerful, more free and more happy, than other men who, whatever be the favors heaped on them by nature and fortune, if destitute of this philosophy, can never command the realization of all their desires. — Rene Descartes

Intuitive knowledge is an illumination of the soul, whereby it beholds in the light of God those things which it pleases Him to reveal to us by a direct impression of divine clearness. — Rene Descartes

Although my knowledge grows more and more, nevertheless I do not for that reason believe that it can ever be actually infinite, since it can never reach a point so high that it will be unable to attain any greater increase. — Rene Descartes

So far, I have been a spectator in this theatre which is the world, but I am now about to mount the stage, and I come forward masked. — Rene Descartes

[ ... ] the diversity of our opinions, consequently, does not arise from some being endowed with a larger share of reason than others, but solely from this, that we conduct our thoughts along different ways, and do not fix our attention on the same objects. For to be possessed of a vigorous mind is not enough; the prime requisite is rightly to apply it. The greatest minds, as they are capable of the highest excellences, are open likewise to the greatest aberrations; and those who travel very slowly may yet make far greater progress, provided they keep always to the straight road, than those who, while they run, forsake it. — Rene Descartes

I was especially delighted with the mathematics, on account of the certitude and evidence of their reasonings; but I had not as yet a precise knowledge of their true use; and thinking that they but contributed to the advancement of the mechanical arts, I was astonished that foundations, so strong and solid, should have had no loftier superstructure reared on them. — Rene Descartes

There is nothing more ancient than the truth. — Rene Descartes

I am accustomed to sleep and in my dreams to imagine the same things that lunatics imagine when awake. — Rene Descartes

I had become aware, as early as my college days, that no opinion, however absurd and incredible can be imagined, that has not been held by one of the philosophers. — Rene Descartes

It is useful to know something of the manners of different nations, that we may be enabled to form a more correct judgment regarding our own, and be prevented from thinking that everything contrary to our customs is ridiculous and irrational, a conclusion usually come to by those whose experience has been limited to their own country. — Rene Descartes

Although we very clearly see the sun, we ought not therefore to determine that it is only of the size which our sense of sight presents; and we may very distinctly imagine the head of a lion joined to the body of a goat, without being therefore shut up to the conclusion that a chimaera exists; for it is not a dictate of reason that what we thus see or imagine is in reality existent; but it plainly tells us that all our ideas or notions contain in them some truth. — Rene Descartes

And I have always had an especially great desire to learn to distinguish the true from the false, in order to see my way clearly in my actions, and to go forward with confidence in this life. It is true that, so long as I merely considered the customs of other men, I found hardly anything there about which to be confident, and that I noticed there was about as much diversity as I had previously found among the opinions of philosophers. Thus the greatest profit I derived from this was that, on seeing many things that, although they seem to us very extravagant and ridiculous, do not cease to be commonly accepted and approved among other great peoples, I learned not to believe anything too firmly of which I had been persuaded only by example and custom; and thus I little by little freed myself from many errors that can darken our natural light and render us less able to listen to reason. — Rene Descartes

If I find some reason for doubt in each of my beliefs, that will be enough to reject all of them. — Rene Descartes

We do not describe the world we see, we see the world we can describe. — Rene Descartes

He lives well who is well hidden. — Rene Descartes

But possibly I am something more than I suppose myself to be. — Rene Descartes

If ... it is not in my power to arrive at the knowledge of any truth, I may at least do what is in my power, namely, suspend judgement ... — Rene Descartes

Common sense is the most widely shared commodity in the world, for every man is convinced that he is well supplied with it. — Rene Descartes

Give me extension and motion and I will construct the universe. — Rene Descartes

To live without philosophizing is in truth the same as keeping the eyes closed without attempting to open them. — Rene Descartes

Bad books engender bad habits, but bad habits engender good books. — Rene Descartes

The chief cause of human errors is to be found in the prejudices picked up in childhood. — Rene Descartes

Desire awakens only to things that are thought possible. — Rene Descartes

The will determines itself; it should not be described as blind, any more than vision should be described as deaf. — Rene Descartes

I know that I exist; the question is, What is this 'I' that 'I' know. — Rene Descartes

That the grace of fable stirs the mind" ... and ... "that the perusal of excellent books is, as it were, to interview with the noblest men of past ages — Rene Descartes

I resolv'd to faign, that all those things which ever entred into my Minde, were no more true, then the illusions of my dreams. — Rene Descartes

It's the familiar love-hate syndrome of seduction: "I don't really care what it is I say, I care only that you like it." — Rene Descartes

I think; therefore I am. — Rene Descartes

It appears to me that I have discovered many truths more useful and more important than all I had before learned, or even had expected to learn. — Rene Descartes

The mind effortlessly and automatically takes in new ideas, which remain in limbo until verified or rejected by conscious, rational analysis. — Rene Descartes

One needs to know what thought is, what existence is and what certainty is. — Rene Descartes

Those who reason most powerfully and are the most successful at ordering their thoughts so as to make them clear and intelligible will always be best able to persuade others of what they say, even if they speak in the thickest of dialects — Rene Descartes

It is good to know something of the customs of different people in order to judge more soundly of our own, and so that we might not think that all that which is contrary to our own ways be ridiculous and contrary to reason, as those who have seen nothing have the habit of doing. — Rene Descartes

Here I beg you to observe in passing that the scruples that prevented ancient writers from using arithmetical terms in geometry, and which can only be a consequence of their inability to perceive clearly the relation between these two subjects, introduced much obscurity and confusion into their explanations. — Rene Descartes

Regarding speculative matters that are of no practical moment, and followed by no consequences to himself, farther, perhaps, than that they foster his vanity the better the more remote they are from common sense; requiring, as they must in this case, the exercise of greater ingenuity and art to render them probable. — Rene Descartes

Those people who formerly had been half wilde, and civiliz'd but by degrees, made their laws but according to the incommodities which their crimes and their quarrels constrain'd them to, could not be so wel pollic'd, as those who from the beginning of their association, observ'd the constitutions of some prudent Legislator. — Rene Descartes

The dreams we imagine when we are asleep should not in any way make us doubt the truth of the thoughts we have when we are awake. — Rene Descartes

The last rule was to make enumerations so complete, and reviews so comprehensive, that I should be certain of omitting nothing. — Rene Descartes

So that there resulted a chaos as disordered as the poets ever feigned, — Rene Descartes

Certainly no one can deny that we have such an idea of God in ourselves unless they think that there is no knowledge at all of God in human minds. — Rene Descartes

In the matter of a difficult question it is more likely that the truth should have been discovered by the few than by the many. — Rene Descartes

The only secure knowledge is that I exist. — Rene Descartes

[I]t seems to be just as foolish to say, 'I imagine, in order to understand more clearly what I am,' as to say, 'I am now clearly awake and I see something true, but because I do not yet see it clearly enough I shall fall asleep so that my dreams will represent it to me more truly and clearly. — Rene Descartes

Thus the perception of the infinite is somehow prior in me to the perception of the finite, that is, my perception of God is prior to my perception of myself. For how would I understand that I doubt and that I desire, that is, that I lack something and that I am not wholly perfect, unless there were some idea in me of a more perfect being, by comparison with which I might recognize my defects? — Rene Descartes

The brutes, which have only their bodies to conserve, are continually occupied in seeking sources of nourishment; but men, of whom the chief part is the mind, ought to make the search after wisdom their principal care, for wisdom is the true nourishment of the mind; and I feel assured, moreover, that there are very many who would not fail in the search, if they would but hope for success in it, and knew the degree of their capabilities for it. — Rene Descartes

All that is necessary to right action is right judgment, and to the best action the most correct judgment — Rene Descartes

For the very fact that my knowledge is increasing little by little is the most certain argument for its imperfection. — Rene Descartes

Every man is indeed bound to do what he can to promote the good of others, and a man who is of no use to anyone is strictly worthless. — Rene Descartes

By 'God', I understand, a substance which is infinite, independent, supremely intelligent, supremely powerful, and which created both myself and everything else [ ... ] that exists. All these attributes are such that, the more carefully I concentrate on them, the less possible it seems that they could have originated from me alone. So, from what has been said it must be concluded that God necessarily exists — Rene Descartes

Thereafter, I showed how the greatest part of the matter of this chaos must, in accordance with these laws, dispose and arrange itself in such a way as to present the appearance of heavens; — Rene Descartes

One of the first of the considerations that occurred to me was that there is very often less perfection in works composed of several portions, and carried out by the hands of various masters, than in those on which one individual alone has worked. Thus we see that buildings planned and carried out by one architect alone are usually more beautiful and better proportioned than those which many have tried to put in order and improve, making use of old walls which were built with other ends in view. — Rene Descartes

Good sense is the most evenly distributed thing in the world; for everyone believes himself to be so well provided with it that even those who are the hardest to please in every other way do not usually want more of it than they already have. — Rene Descartes

Bene vixit, bene qui latuit.
(to live well is to live concealed) — Rene Descartes

Even if I were to suppose that I was dreaming and whatever I saw or imagined was false, yet I could not deny that ideas were truly in my mind. — Rene Descartes

Good sense is of all things in the world the most equally distributed, for everybody thinks he is so well supplied with it that even those most difficult to please in all other matters never desire more of it than they already possess. — Rene Descartes

It is not my design to teach the method that everyone must follow in order to use his reason properly, but only to show the way in which I have tried to use my own. — Rene Descartes

to live well you must live
unseen — Rene Descartes

One should never judge anything unless it is known. — Rene Descartes

An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why must the pessimist always run to blow it out? — Rene Descartes

The greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices as well as of the greatest virtues. — Rene Descartes

Hence reason also demands that, since our thoughts cannot all be true because we are not wholly perfect, what truth they do possess must inevitably be found in the thoughts we have when awake, rather than in our dreams. — Rene Descartes