Quotes by René Descartes

“To live without philosophizing is in truth the same as keeping the eyes closed without attempting to open them.””

“In order to seek truth, it is necessary once in the course of our life to doubt, as far as possible, of all things.””

“Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it.””

“Each problem that I solved became a rule which served afterwards to solve other problems””

“Let whoever can do so deceive me, he will never bring it about that I am nothing, so long as I continue to think I am something.””

“The reading of all good books is indeed like a conversation with the noblest men of past centuries who were the authors of them, nay a carefully studied conversation, in which they reveal to us none but the best of their thoughts.””

“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.””

“It is not enough to have a good mind. The main thing is to use it well.””

“So blind is the curiosity by which mortals are possessed, that they often conduct their minds along unexplored routes, having no reason to hope for success, but merely being willing to risk the experiment of finding whether the truth they seek lies there.””

“I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am.””

“Bad books engender bad habits, but bad habits engender good books.””

“But what then am I? A thing that thinks. What is that? A thing that doubts, understand, affirms, denies, wills, refuses, and that also imagines and senses.””