Rene Descartes
Rene Descartes
René Descarteswas a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. Dubbed the father of modern western philosophy, much of subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day. He spent about 20 years of his life in the Dutch Republic...
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth31 March 1596
CityIndre-et-Loire, France
best common habit hardest matters satisfy thinks
Common sense is the best distributed thing in the world, for everyone thinks he is so well-endowed with it that even those who are hardest to satisfy in all other matters are not in the habit of desiring more of it than they already have
desire difficult equally everybody good matters please senses thinks
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.
achieving difficult easy enter gave human imagine matters mind occasion reasoning simple
The long concatenations of simple and easy reasoning which geometricians use in achieving their most difficult demonstrations gave me occasion to imagine that all matters which may enter the human mind were interrelated in the same fashion.
science body matter
The nature of matter, or body considered in general, consists not in its being something which is hard or heavy or coloured, or which affects the senses in any way, but simply in its being something which is extended in length, breadth and depth.
desire littles matter
Good sense is the most equitably distributed of all things because no matter how much or little a person has, everyone feels so abundantly provided with good sense that he feels no desire for more than he already possesses.
errors owing matter
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.
doubt philosophy therefore
Dubito ergo cogito; cogito ergo sum.(I doubt, therefore I think; I think therefore I am)
determine follow ought power probable
When it is not in our power to determine what it true, we ought to follow what is most probable
desire fairly good hardest respect satisfy thinks
Of all things, good sense is the most fairly distributed: everyone thinks he is so well supplied with it that even those who are the hardest to satisfy in every other respect never desire more of it than they already have.
strange
There is nothing so strange or so unbelievable that it has not been said by one philosopher or another
books books-and-reading conversation finest good men past reading
The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of past centuries.
among desire difficult equally good himself larger provided satisfy thinks
Good sense is, of all things among men, the most equally distributed; for everyone thinks himself so abundantly provided with it, that those even that those who are the most difficult to satisfy in everything else, do not usually desire a larger meas
follow ought power
When it is not in our power to follow what is true, we ought to follow what is most probable.
cannot conceive philosophy strange
One cannot conceive anything so strange and so implausible that it has not already been said by one philosopher or another.