The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries.
Rene DescartesRead
Variant: When it is not in our power to follow what is true, we ought to follow what is most probable.
Interpretation
What this quote means
We should base our actions on what is likely to be true when certainty is unattainable.
Descartes suggests that in situations where absolute truth is out of reach, it is more rational to make decisions based on the most probable outcomes. This reflects a pragmatic approach to knowledge and decision-making, emphasizing the importance of likelihood over certainty in guiding our actions.
Themes
TruthProbabilityDecision-MakingRationalityPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about climate change, one could use this quote to argue for action based on the probable outcomes of inaction.
More from Rene Descartes
All quotes βIf we possessed a thorough knowledge of all the parts of the seed of any animal (e.g. man), we could from that alone, be reasons entirely mathematical and certain, deduce the whole conformation and figure of each of its members, and, conversely if we knew several peculiarities of this conformation, we would from those deduce the nature of its seed.
Rene DescartesRead
Mathematics is a more powerful instrument of knowledge than any other that has been bequeathed to us by human agency.
Rene DescartesRead
Before examining this more carefully and investigating its consequences, I want to dwell for a moment in the contemplation of God, to ponder His attributes in me, to see, admire, and adore the beauty of His boundless light, insofar as my clouded insight allows. Believing that the supreme happiness of the other life consists wholly of the contemplation of divine greatness, I now find that through less perfect contemplation of the same sort I can gain the greatest joy available in this life.
Rene DescartesRead
I am accustomed to sleep and in my dreams to imagine the same things that lunatics imagine when awake.
Rene DescartesRead
The greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices as well as of the greatest virtues.
Rene DescartesRead
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