Some years ago I was struck by the large number of falsehoods that I had accepted as true in my childhood, and by the highly doubtful nature of the w… - René Descartes

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Some years ago I was struck by the large number of falsehoods that I had accepted as true in my childhood, and by the highly doubtful nature of the whole edifice that I had subsequently based on them. I realized that it was necessary, once in the course of my life, to demolish everything completely and start again right from the foundations if I wanted to establish anything at all in the sciences that was stable and likely to last.

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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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Also Known As

Alternative Names: Descartes Cartesius Renatus Cartesius Renė Dekartas
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Additional quotes by René Descartes

Λαχταρούσα όσο κάνείς άλλος να κατακτήσω τος ουρανούς όμως, αφού έμαθα με απόλυτη βεβαιότητα ότι ο δρόμος είναι ανοιχτός τόσο για τους αδαείς όσο και για τους περισσότερο μορφωμένους, και ότι οι αλήθειες που αποκαλύπτονται και οι οποίες οδηγούν εκεί, είναι υπεράνω της διάνοιας μας, δεν θα τολμούσα να τις υποβάλω στους αδύναμους συλλογισμούς μου.

Mais lorsqu'on emploie trop de temps à voyager, on devient enfin étranger en son pays; et lorsqu'on est trop curieux des choses qui se pratiquoient aux siècles passés, on demeure ordinairement fort ignorant de celles qui se pratiquent en celui-ci.

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For, occupied incessantly with the consideration of the limits prescribed to their power by nature, they [philosophers of former times] became so entirely convinced that nothing was at their disposal except their own thoughts, that this conviction was of itself sufficient to prevent their entertaining any desire of other objects; and over their thoughts they acquired a sway so absolute, that they had some ground on this account for esteeming themselves more rich and more powerful, more free and more happy, than other men who, whatever be the favors heaped on them by nature and fortune, if destitute of this philosophy, can never command the realization of all their desires.

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