René Descartes quotes
French mathematician and philosopher. His method of doubt sought an indubitable foundation for knowledge — and found it in 'I think, therefore I am.'
9 passages across 7 themes. More on René Descartes.
On mind
“It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.”
“As in Mathematicks, so in Natural Philosophy, the Investigation of difficult Things by the Method of Analysis, ought ever to precede the Method of Composition.”
On truth
“The entire method consists in the order and arrangement of the things to which the mind's eye must turn so that we can discover some truth.”
“In order to seek truth, it is necessary once in the course of our life, to doubt, as far as possible, of all things.”
On existence
“I think, therefore I am.”
On reason
“Each problem that I solved became a rule which served afterwards to solve other problems.”
On character
“The greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices as well as of the greatest virtues.”
On faith
“I suppose the body to be nothing but a statue or machine made of earth, which God forms with the explicit intention of making it as much as possible like us.”
On action
“In the theory of the state of the seventeenth century, the monarch is identified with God and has in the state a position exactly analogous to that attributed to God in the Cartesian system of the world.”