René Descartes Quotes

La lectura de todos los buenos libros es como una conversación con los mejores ingenios de los pasados siglos que los han compuesto, y hasta una conversación estudiada en la que no nos descubren sino lo más selecto de sus pensamientos. [...] Es casi lo mismo conversar con gentes de otros siglos que viajar. Pero el que emplea demasiado tiempo en viajar acaba por tornarse extranjero en su propio país; y al que estudia con demasiada curiosidad lo que se hacía en los siglos pretéritos ocúrrele de ordinario que permanece ignorante de lo que se practica en el presente

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, and which they revealed to us none but their best thoughts

Γι'αυτό πιστεύω ότι θα τις χρησιμοποιήσωπιο συνετά αν, υιοθετώντας μια αντίθετη άποψη, βάλω ο ίδιος τα δυνατά μου να εξαπατηθώ, παριστάνοντας ότι όλες αυτές οι σκέψεις εξασφαλμένες και φανταστικές, ώσπου τελικά, έχοντας εξισορροπήσει τις παλιές και τις νέες προκαταλήψιες μου, καμία κακή συνήθεα να μην αλλοιώνει πλέον την κρίση μου, εμποδίζοντας τη να αντιλαμβάνεται σωστά τα πράγματα.

Η ευγλωττία έχει μια ασύγκριτη δύναμη και ομορφιά, ότι η ποίηση διαθέτει μια ευαισθησία και μια γλυκύτητα πραγματικά σαγηνευτική.

Sağduyu dünyanın en iyi paylaştırılmış şeyidir, zira herkes onunla öylesine iyi donatılmış olduğunu düşünür ki başka her şeyde çok zor memnun olanlar bile sahip oldukları sağduyudan fazlasını hiç de arzu etmezler.

And in this it is not likely that all are mistaken the conviction is rather to be held as testifying that the power of judging aright and of distinguishing truth from error, which is properly what is called good sense or reason, is by nature equal in all men; and that 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.

Ο πρώτος είναι να μη δέχομαι τίποτα ως αληθινό αν δεν γνωρίζω ότι είναι τεκμηριωμένο: να αποφεύγω, δηλαδή, προσεκτικά τη βιασύνη και τις προκαταλήψεις και να μην υιοθετώ ως δική μου κρίση τίποτα που να μην εμφανίζεται στο μυαλό μου με τρόπο τόσο σαφή και διακριτό ώστε να μην έχω κανέναν λόγο να το αμφισβητήσω.

Ένα πραγματικό μανιφέστο της σύγχρονης σκέψης.

And yet firmly rooted in my mind is the long-standing opinion that there is an omnipotent God who made me the kind of creature that I am. How do I know that he has not brought it about that there is no earth, no sky, no extended thing, no shape, no size, no place, while at the same time ensuring that all these things appear to me to exist just as they do now? What is more, since I sometimes believe that others go astray in cases where they think they have the most perfect knowledge, may I not similarly go wrong every time I add two and three or count the sides of a square, or in some even simpler matter, if that is imaginable? But perhaps God would not have allowed me to be deceived in this way, since he is said to be supremely good...Once we have become aware that God exists it is necessary for us to imagine that he is a deceiver if we wish to cast doubt on what we clearly and distinctly perceive. And since it is impossible to imagine that he is a deceiver, whatever we clearly and distinctly perceive must be completely accepted as true...But since God is not a deceiver, it is quite clear that he does not transmit the ideas to me either directly from himself, or indirectly, via some creature [other than corporeal substance] … For God has given me no faculty at all for recognizing any such source for these ideas; on the contrary, he has given me a great propensity to believe that they are produced by corporeal things. It follows that corporeal things exist.

Ich denke also bin ich (cogit ergo sum)

I am, I exist” is necessarily true every time I utter it or conceive it in my mind.

Et nous appellerons ces choses indéfinies plutôt qu'infinies, afin de réserver à Dieu seul le nom d'infini, tant à cause que nous ne remarquons point de bornes en ses perfections, comme aussi à cause que nous somme très assurés qu'il n'y en peut avoir. Pour ce qui est des autres choses, nous savons qu'elles ne sont pas ainsi absolument parfaites, parce qu'encore que nous y remarquions quelquefois des propriétés qui nous semblent n'avoir point de limites, nous ne laissons pas de connoitre que cela procède du défaut de notre entendement, et non point de leur nature.

Cuando la conciencia del individuo queda reducida a reflejar la conciencia colectiva del grupo social, el pensamiento se hace siervo de los dogmas colectivos; el hombre se recluye en el organismo superior de la nación o clase, y el concepto de lo humano se disuelve

Los orígenes del método están, según nos cuenta Descartes ( Discurso), en la lógica, el análisis geométrico y el álgebra. Conviene ante todo insistir en que el gravísimo defecto de la lógica de Aristóteles es, para Descartes, su incapacidad de invención.

Doubt is the origin of wisdom and Latin: Dubium sapientiae initium. This has been attributed to Descartes, including here previously, but no original attribution has been found. Descartes Meditationes de prima philosophia has been cited as the source of Dubium sapientiae initium, but this quote is not found in this work.