Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings Quotes

“One should never judge anything unless it is known.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“Am I so tied to a body and senses that I am incapable of existing without them?”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“The thinking of the mind is twofold: understanding and willing.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“I am like a prisoner who happens on enjoy an imaginary freedom in his dreams and who subsequently begins to suspect that he is asleep and, afraid of being awakened, conspires silently with his agreeable illusions.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“Nothing is made from nothing.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“The very desire to seek the truth often causes people, who do not know how it should be sought correctly, to make judgements about things that they do not perceive and in that way they make mistakes.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“It is prudent never to trust those who have deceived us, even if only once.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“The will determines itself; it should not be described as blind, any more than vision should be described as deaf.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“To think? That's it. It is thought. This alone cannot be detached from me. I am, I exist; that is certain.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“Certainly no one can deny that we have such an idea of God in ourselves unless they think that there is no knowledge at all of God in human minds.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“It is enough that I can understand one thing, clearly and distinctly, without another in order to be certain that one thing is distinct from the other.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“I am, I exist.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“I will follow this strategy until I discover something that is certain or, at least, until I discover that it is certain only that nothing is certain.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“As regards the soul, many people thought that its nature cannot easily be investigated, and some have even dared say that human reason shows us that the soul dies with the body and that the contrary view is held by faith alone; however, the Lateran Council, held under Leo X (Session 8), condemns them and explicitly commands Christian philosophers to defeat their arguments and prove the truth to the best of their abilities, and therefore I too have not hesitated to take on this challenge.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“One needs to know what thought is, what existence is and what certainty is.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“I am thinking, therefore I exist.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“Therefore from the fact alone that I know that I exist and that, at the same time, I notice absolutely nothing else that belongs to my nature apart from the single fact that I am a thinking thing, I correctly conclude that my essence consists in this alone, that I am a thinking thing.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“If I find some reason for doubt in each of my beliefs, that will be enough to reject all of them.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“Είμαι, λοιπόν, εγώ ένα σκεπτόμενο πράγμα, δηλαδή ένα πράγμα που αμφιβάλλει, συμφώνει, αρνείται, αντιλαμβάνεται με το πνεύμα (αν και, προς το παρόν, πολύ λίγα), αγνοεί (σίγουρα ακόμα πολλά), θέλει, δεν θέλει, και ακόμα φαντάζεται και αντιλαμβάνεται (γιατί, όπως έχω ήδη παρατηρήσει, παρότι τα πράγματα που φαντάζομαι και αισθάνομαι ίσως να μην υπάρχουν έξω από εμένα, είμαι βέβαιος ότι αυτά τα είδη σκέψης που αποκαλώ φαντασιώσεις και αισθήματα, μόνο ως είδη σκέψης, βρίσκονται μέσα μου).”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“Και μόνος με τον εαυτό μου, κοιτάζοντας βαθιά μέσα μου, θα προσπαθήσω να γνωρίσω καλύτερα τον εαυτό μου, με άλλα λόγια να εξοικειωθώ σιγά σιγά με εμένα τον ίδιο.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“Και όπως ένας σκλάβος, που απολάμβανε στον ύπνο του μια φανταστική ελευθερία, μόλις αρχίσει να υποπτεύεται ότι ονειρεύεται, φοβάται μην ξυπνήσει και κρατάει τα μάτια τουκλειστά, ενώ ευχάριστες ψευδαισθήσεις τον νανουρίζουν, έτσι και εγώ επιστρέφω ασυναίσθητα στις παλιές απόψεις μου και φοβάμαι μήπως ξυπνήσω, μήπως η επώδυνη αφύπνιση που ακολουθεί μια γλυκιά γαλήνη, στο μέλλον δεν συμβεί κάτω από φως, αλλά μέσα στο δαιδαλώδες σκοτάδι των δυσκολιών που μόλις θίξαμε.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“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.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“Γιατί επανέρχονται στη σκέψη μου αυτές οι συνηθισμένες απόψεις και κατακτούν την πίστη μου, σαν να τους δίνει το δικαίωμα η μακροχρόνια εξοικείωση μαζί μου να κυριεύσουν το πνέυμα μου, ακόμα και σχεδόν ενάντια στη θέληση μου”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

“Να μην εμπιστευόμαστε ποτέ ολοκληρωτικά εκείνους που μας έχουν εξαπατήσει έστω και μια φορά.”
― René Descartes, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings