Quotes from DESCARTES

it is a mark of prudence never to place our complete trust in those who have deceived us even once.

Because reason...is the only thing that makes us men, and distinguishes us from the beasts, I would prefer to believe that it exists, in its entirety, in each of us...

No hay nada repartido de modo más equitativo en el mundo que la razón: todo el mundo está convencido de tener suficiente.

My third maxim was to try always to master myself rather than fortune and change my desires rather than changing how things stand in the world.

it is not my design to teach the method that everyone must follow in order to use his reason properly, but only to show the way in which I have tried to use my own.

He who lives well lives well hidden.

Several years have now passed since I first realized how numerous were the false opinions that in my youth I had taken to be true, and thus how doubtful were all those that I had subsequently built upon them.

that the grace of fable stirs the mind"...and..."that the perusal of excellent books is, as it were, to interview with the noblest men of past ages

I undertook to conquer myself rather than fortune , and to alter my desires rather than change the order of the world , and to accustom myself to believe that nothing is entirely in our power except our own thoughts .

Instead of René Descartes' famous "Cogito ergo sum" (I think, therefore I am), I propose "Communico ergo sum," (I communicate, therefore I exist") as the philosophical proof of man's existence.

My principle has ever been to attempt to overcome myself rather than fortune and to change my desires rather than the natural order.

Booty Butt, Booty Butt, Booty Butt Cheeks

I found myself beset by so many doubts and errors that I came to think I had gained nothing from my attempts to become educated but increasing recognition of my ignorance.

It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.

To know what people really think, pay attention to what they do, rather than what they say.

In order to improve the mind, we ought less learn than to contemplate.