Rene Descartes Quotes

I shall not commit the fashionable stupidity of regarding everything I cannot explain as a fraud.

To avoid being drawn into error, keep a firm grip on the truth.

A man ceases to be an honest doubter the moment he refuses one way of getting at the truth because he does not like that way.

I hope that I am generous and tolerant, but certainly on the intellectual side I think that there are discoverable truths, and some things that are closer approximations to the truth than others.

Every man has a right to his opinion, but no man has the right to be wrong in his facts.

We need a world where the values of science are celebrated: free inquiry, free speech and a healthy skepticism, all coupled with a sense of wonder, a respect for truth and an ability to reason.

Not to be absolutely certain is, I think, one of the essential things in rationality.

For dear me, why abandon a belief Merely because it ceases to be true

Belief is a toxic and dangerous attitude toward reality. After all, if it's there it doesn't require your belief- and if it's not there why should you believe in it?

No one is infallible, and no one can claim a monopoly on truth or virtue. It would be contradictory for skepticism to seek to translate itself into a new faith.

It’s critical that we know what we believe, no matter what we feel...that we know what is true, no matter what we see.

Indeed the reasoned criticism of a prevailing belief is a service to the proponents of that belief; if they are incapable of defending it, they are well advised to abandon it. This self-questioning and error-correcting aspect of the scientific method is its most striking property.

The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.

A man's most valuable trait is a judicious sense of what not to believe.

What should we think of someone who never admits error, never entertains doubt but adheres unflinchingly to the same ideas all his life, regardless of new evidence? Doubt and skepticism are signs of rationality. When we are too certain of our opinions, we run the risk of ignoring any evidence that conflicts with our views. It is doubt that shows we are still thinking, still willing to reexamine hardened beliefs when confronted with new facts and new evidence.

Forbear to spew out reason from your mind, but rather ponder everything with keen judgment; and if it seems true, own yourself vanquished, but, if it is false, gird up your loins to fight.

If faith is what you have to go on, if faith is the link between your beliefs and the world at large, your beliefs are very likely to be wrong. Beliefs can be right or wrong. If you believe you can fly, that belief is only true if indeed you can fly. Somebody who thinks he can fly, and is wrong about it, will eventually discover there's a problem with his view of the world.

Another error is an impatience of doubt and haste to assertion without due and mature suspension of judgment. For the two ways of contemplation are not unlike the two ways of action commonly spoken of by the ancients; the one plain and smooth in the beginning, and in the end impassable; the other rough and troublesome in the entrance, but after a while fair and even. So it is in contemplation; if a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.

Reason alone cannot give you a whole steak, but it sure helps with identifying bologna.

First and last, what is demanded of genius is love of truth.

People who cannot recognize a palpable absurdity are very much in the way of civilization.

We must always think about things, and we must think about things as they are, not as they are said to be.

Clarity and consistency are not enough: the quest for truth requires humility and effort.

Some minds remain open long enough for the truth not only to enter but to pass on through by way of a ready exit without pausing anywhere along the route.

We need discernment in what we see and what we hear and what we believe.