Except our own thoughts, there is nothing absolutely in our power.
In the same way,
since in action it frequently happens that no delay is permissible, it
is very certain that, when it is not in our power to determine what is
true, we ought to act according to what is most probable; and even
although we should not remark a greater probability in one opinion than
in another, we ought notwithstanding to choose one or the other, and
afterwards consider it, in so far as it relates to practice, as no
longer dubious, but manifestly true and certain, since the reason by
which our choice has been determined is itself possessed of these
qualities. This principle was sufficient thenceforward to rid me of all
those repentings and pangs of remorse that usually disturb the
consciences of such feeble and uncertain minds as, destitute of any
clear and determinate principle of choice, allow themselves one day to
adopt a course of action as the best, which they abandon the next, as
the opposite.
My _third_ maxim was to endeavor always to conquer myself rather than
fortune, and change my desires rather than the order of the world, and
in general, accustom myself to the persuasion that, except our own
thoughts, there is nothing absolutely in our power; so that when we
have done our best in things external to us, all wherein we fail of
success is to be held, as regards us, absolutely impossible: and this
single principle seemed to me sufficient to prevent me from desiring
for the future anything which I could not obtain, and thus render me
contented; for since our will naturally seeks those objects alone which
the understanding represents as in some way possible of attainment, it
is plain, that if we consider all external goods as equally beyond our
power, we shall no more regret the absence of such goods as seem due to
our birth, when deprived of them without any fault of ours, than our
not possessing the kingdoms of China or Mexico, and thus making, so to
speak, a virtue of necessity, we shall no more desire health in
disease, or freedom in imprisonment, than we now do bodies
incorruptible as diamonds, or the wings of birds to fly with. But I
confess there is need of prolonged discipline and frequently repeated
meditation to accustom the mind to view all objects in this light; and
I believe that in this chiefly consisted the secret of the power of
such philosophers as in former times were enabled to rise superior to
the influence of fortune, and, amid suffering and poverty, enjoy a
happiness which their gods might have envied.
although we very clearly see the sun, we ought not therefore to determine that it is only of the size which our sense of sight presents; and we may very distinctly imagine the head of a lion joined to the body of a goat, without being therefore shut up to the conclusion that a chimaera exists; for it is not a dictate of reason that what we thus see or imagine is in reality existent; but it plainly tells us that all our ideas or notions contain in them some truth.
But after the knowledge of God and of the soul has rendered us certain
of this rule, we can easily understand that the truth of the thoughts
we experience when awake, ought not in the slightest degree to be
called in question on account of the illusions of our dreams. For if it
happened that an individual, even when asleep, had some very distinct
idea, as, for example, if a geometer should discover some new
demonstration, the circumstance of his being asleep would not militate
against its truth; and as for the most ordinary error of our dreams,
which consists in their representing to us various objects in the same
way as our external senses, this is not prejudicial, since it leads us
very properly to suspect the truth of the ideas of sense; for we are
not infrequently deceived in the same manner when awake; as when
persons in the jaundice see all objects yellow, or when the stars or
bodies at a great distance appear to us much smaller than they are.
For, in fine, whether awake or asleep, we ought never to allow
ourselves to be persuaded of the truth of anything unless on the
evidence of our reason. And it must be noted that I say of our reason,
and not of our imagination or of our senses: thus, for example,
although we very clearly see the sun, we ought not therefore to
determine that it is only of the size which our sense of sight
presents; and we may very distinctly imagine the head of a lion joined
to the body of a goat, without being therefore shut up to the
conclusion that a chimaera exists; for it is not a dictate of reason
that what we thus see or imagine is in reality existent; but it plainly
tells us that all our ideas or notions contain in them some truth; for
otherwise it could not be that God, who is wholly perfect and
veracious, should have placed them in us. And because our reasonings
are never so clear or so complete during sleep as when we are awake,
although sometimes the acts of our imagination are then as lively and
distinct, if not more so than in our waking moments, reason further
dictates that, since all our thoughts cannot be true because of our
partial imperfection, those possessing truth must infallibly be found
in the experience of our waking moments rather than in that of our
dreams.
PART V
I would here willingly have proceeded to exhibit the whole chain of
truths which I deduced from these primary but as with a view to this it
would have been necessary now to treat of many questions in dispute
among the earned, with whom I do not wish to be embroiled, I believe
that it will be better for me to refrain from this exposition, and only
mention in general what these truths are, that the more judicious may
be able to determine whether a more special account of them would
conduce to the public advantage.
To live without philosophizing is in truth the same as keeping the eyes closed without attempting to open them.
I should, in the next place, have proposed to consider the utility
of philosophy, and at the same time have shown that, since it
embraces all that the human mind can know, we ought to believe that
it is by it we are distinguished from savages and barbarians, and
that the civilisation and culture of a nation is regulated by the
degree in which true philosophy nourishes in it, and, accordingly,
that to contain true philosophers is the highest privilege a state
can enjoy. Besides this, I should have shown that, as regards
individuals, it is not only useful for each man to have intercourse
with those who apply themselves to this study, but that it is
incomparably better he should himself direct his attention to it;
just as it is doubtless to be preferred that a man should make use
of his own eyes to direct his steps, and enjoy by means of the same
the beauties of colour and light, than that he should blindly follow
the guidance of another; though the latter course is certainly
better than to have the eyes closed with no guide except one's self.
But to live without philosophizing is in truth the same as keeping
the eyes closed without attempting to open them; and the pleasure of
seeing all that sight discloses is not to be compared with the
satisfaction afforded by the discoveries of philosophy. And,
finally, this study is more imperatively requisite for the
regulation of our manners, and for conducting us through life, than
is the use of our eyes for directing our steps. The brutes, which
have only their bodies to conserve, are continually occupied in
seeking sources of nourishment; but men, of whom the chief part is
the mind, ought to make the search after wisdom their principal
care, for wisdom is the true nourishment of the mind; and I feel
assured, moreover, that there are very many who would not fail in
the search, if they would but hope for success in it, and knew the
degree of their capabilities for it. There is no mind, how ignoble
soever it be, which remains so firmly bound up in the objects of the
senses, as not sometime or other to turn itself away from them in
the aspiration after some higher good, although not knowing
frequently wherein that good consists.
Common sense is the most widely shared commodity in the world, for every man is convinced that he is well supplied with it.
I suppose therefore that all things I see are illusions; I believe that nothing has ever existed of everything my lying memory tells me. I think I have no senses. I believe that body, shape, extension, motion, location are functions. What is there then that can be taken as true? Perhaps only this one thing, that nothing at all is certain.
I desire to live in peace and to continue the life I have begun under the motto to live well you must live unseen
Let whoever can do so deceive me, he will never bring it about that I am nothing, so long as I continue to think I am something.
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.
If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.
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.
It is only prudent never to place complete confidence in that by which we have even once been deceived.
You just keep pushing. You just keep pushing. I made every mistake that could be made. But I just kept pushing.
There is nothing more ancient than the truth.
The dreams we imagine when we are asleep should not in any way make us doubt the truth of the thoughts we have when we are awake.
But in my opinion, all things in nature occur mathematically.
The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of past centuries.
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
It is not enough to have a good mind. The main thing is to use it well.
Thus the perception of the infinite is somehow prior in me to the perception of the finite, that is, my perception of God is prior to my perception of myself. For how would I understand that I doubt and that I desire, that is, that I lack something and that I am not wholly perfect, unless there were some idea in me of a more perfect being, by comparison with which I might recognize my defects?
When I turn my minds eye upon myself, I understand that I am a thing which is incomplete and dependent on another and which aspires without limit to ever greater and better things...
