It is just as valuable to be censured by friends as it is splendid to be praised by enemies. We desire praise from those who do not know us, but from… - René Descartes

"("I think, therefore I am"), the idea that the mere act of thinking about one's existence proves there is someone there to do the thinking."

so that even although he had from the beginning given it no other form than that of chaos, provided only he had established certain laws of nature, and had lent it his concurrence to enable it to act as it is wont to do, it may be believed, without discredit to the miracle of creation, that, in this way alone, things purely material might, in course of time, have become such as we observe them at present; and their nature is much more easily conceived when they are beheld coming in this manner gradually into existence, than when they are only considered as produced at once in a finished and perfect state.

Κυρίως μου άρεσαν τα μαθηματικά, για τη βεβαιότητα και το προφανές της τεκμηρίωσης τους όμως εξακολουθούσα να μην αντιλαμβάνομαι καθόλουτη πραγματική χρησιμότητα τος και, θεωρώντας ότι δεν χρησίμευαν παρά μόνο στις μηχανικές τέχνες.