Update
Show Summary Details

Page of

PRINTED FROM OXFORD REFERENCE (www.oxfordreference.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2023. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single entry from a reference work in OR for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice).

date: 07 December 2024

René Descartes 1596–1650
French philosopher and mathematician 

  1. Common sense is the best distributed commodity in the world, for every man is convinced that he is well supplied with it.
    Le Discours de la méthode (1637) pt. 1
  2. For it is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.
    Le Discours de la méthode (1637) pt. 1
  3. Je pense, donc je suis.
    I think, therefore I am.
    usually quoted as, ‘Cogito, ergo sum’, from the 1641 Latin edition
    Le Discours de la méthode (1637) pt. 4