"In everyday life we must often act without delay, it is a … - René Descartes

"In everyday life we must often act without delay, it is a most certain truth that when it is not in our power to discern the truest opinions, we must follow the most probable." (Discourse III, AT VI: 25/CSM I: 123)

[Descartes discusses a traveler lost in a forest to illustrate this. The traveler is lost, and he does not know how to get out of the woods. Descartes’ advice is that the traveler should pick a route, even if it is uncertain, and resolutely stick to it:

"Keep walking as straight as he can in one direction, never changing it for slight reasons even if mere chance made him choose it in the first place; for in this way, even if he does not go exactly where he wishes, he will at least end up in a place where he is likely to be better off than in the middle of a forest." (Ibid.)]

René Descartes

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About René Descartes

René Descartes (March 31, 1596 – February 11, 1650) was a highly influential French philosopher, mathematician, physicist and writer. He is known for his influential arguments for substance dualism, where mind and body are considered to have distinct essences, one being characterized by thought, the other by spatial extension. He has been dubbed the "Father of Modern Philosophy" and the "Father of Modern Mathematics." He is also known as Cartesius.

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Alternative Names: Descartes • Cartesius • Renatus Cartesius • Renė Dekartas

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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.

When it is not in our power to determine what it true, we ought to follow what is most probable.

Originators like René Descartes:

Benedictus de Spinoza Georg Christoph Lichtenberg Immanuel Kant Michel de Montaigne Albert Einstein

Additional quotes by René Descartes

There is no need to allege that Descartes sat in or on a stove. A poêle is simply a room heated by an earthenware stove. Cf. E. Gilson, Discours de la méthode: texte et commentaire, 4th edition (Paris: Vrin, 1967), p. 157.

"Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum.

(English: "I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am")"

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.

"In everyday life we must often act without delay, it is a most certain truth that when it is not in our power to discern the truest opinions, we mus… - René Descartes

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