---
title: "1 Doubt Reality Quotes By Etienne Gilson"
description: "1 Doubt Reality quotes by Etienne Gilson. Plus more from Etienne Gilson and more Doubt Reality sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5c/etienne-gilson-21565_reality_pure-sensism-leads-inevitably-to-univers_1728131.jpg"
---

> [ “Pure sensism leads inevitably to universal doubt; if reality is in the end reducible to sensible appearance, then, since this is in a state of perpetual flux and self-contradiction, no kind of certitude will any longer be possible. \[...\] Truth… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/pure-sensism-leads-inevitably-to-universal-doubt-if-reality-is-in-the/)

[Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5c/etienne-gilson-21565_reality_pure-sensism-leads-inevitably-to-univers_1728131.jpg)

## More by Etienne Gilson

> [History is the only laboratory we have in which to test the consequences of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/history-is-the-only-laboratory-we-have-in-which-to-test-the/)

[Etienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/)

> [“Modern man, brought up on Kantian idealism, regards nature as being no more than an outcome of the laws of the mind. Losing all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/modern-man-brought-up-on-kantian-idealism-regards-nature-as-being-no/)

[Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/)

> [“The Middle Ages were long preoccupied with the nature of the concept, or of the notion which the intellect abstracts from the object; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/the-middle-ages-were-long-preoccupied-with-the-nature-of-the-concept/)

[Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/)

> [Humans feel at home in a world of things, whose essences and laws it can grasp and define in terms of concepts; but shy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/humans-feel-at-home-in-a-world-of-things-whose-essences-and-laws-it/)

[Etienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/)

> [Radiance belongs to being considered precisely as beautiful: it is, in being, that which catches the eye, or the ear, or the mind, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/radiance-belongs-to-being-considered-precisely-as-beautiful-it-is-in/)

[Etienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/)

> [“When man subverted order he did a great deal more than merely fall away from the rationality of his nature, diminish his own humanity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/when-man-subverted-order-he-did-a-great-deal-more-than-merely-fall/)

[Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/)

> [“Just as it is by His goodness that God gives being to beings, so also it is by His goodness that He makes causes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/just-as-it-is-by-his-goodness-that-god-gives-being-to-beings-so-also/)

[Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/)

> [To minds tormented by the divine thirst, it is useless to offer the most certain knowledge of the laws of numbers and the arrangement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/to-minds-tormented-by-the-divine-thirst-it-is-useless-to-offer-the/)

[Etienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/)

> [“As long as one makes some kind of conscious state, whether a “passive sensation” or an “apprehended”, come before reality, one will remain more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/as-long-as-one-makes-some-kind-of-conscious-state-whether-a-passive/)

[Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/)

> [Man is not a mind that thinks, but a being who knows other beings as true, who loves them as good and who enjoys…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/man-is-not-a-mind-that-thinks-but-a-being-who-knows-other-beings-as/)

[Etienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/)

> [If our previous analyses are correct, they all point to the same conclusion, that metaphysical adventures are doomed to fail when their authors substitute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/if-our-previous-analyses-are-correct-they-all-point-to-the-same/)

[Etienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/)

> [“But if one decides to start with Descartes and finish with Aristotle, and to employ an idealist method while shamelessly making use of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/but-if-one-decides-to-start-with-descartes-and-finish-with-aristotle/)

[Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/)

> [“What is necessary is that epistemology, instead of being the pre-condition for ontology, should grow in it and with it, being at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/what-is-necessary-is-that-epistemology-instead-of-being-the-pre/)

[Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/)

> [“Pure sensism leads inevitably to universal doubt; if reality is in the end reducible to sensible appearance, then, since this is in a state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/pure-sensism-leads-inevitably-to-universal-doubt-if-reality-is-in-the/)

[Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/)

> [“If pure philosophy took any of its ideas from Christian revelation, if anything in the Bible and the Gospel has passed into metaphysics, if,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/if-pure-philosophy-took-any-of-its-ideas-from-christian-revelation-if/)

[Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt-reality/etienne-gilson/#itemlist",
            "name": "1 Doubt Reality Quotes By Etienne Gilson",
            "numberOfItems": 1,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“Pure sensism leads inevitably to universal doubt; if reality is in the end reducible to sensible appearance, then, since this is in a state of perpetual flux and self-contradiction, no kind of certitude will any longer be possible. [...] Truth is necessary and immutable; but in the sensible order nothing necessary or immutable is to be found; therefore sensible things will never yield us any truth.”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Etienne Gilson"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/pure-sensism-leads-inevitably-to-universal-doubt-if-reality-is-in-the/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5c/etienne-gilson-21565_reality_pure-sensism-leads-inevitably-to-univers_1728131.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5c/etienne-gilson-21565_reality_pure-sensism-leads-inevitably-to-univers_1728131.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5c/etienne-gilson-21565_reality_pure-sensism-leads-inevitably-to-univers_1728131.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Pure sensism leads inevitably to universal doubt; if reality is in the end reducible to sensible appearance…” — Étienne Gilson",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt-reality/etienne-gilson/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt-reality/etienne-gilson/",
            "name": "Doubt Reality Quotes by Etienne Gilson",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt-reality/etienne-gilson/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5c/etienne-gilson-21565_reality_pure-sensism-leads-inevitably-to-univers_1728131.jpg"
            },
            "description": "1 Doubt Reality quotes by Etienne Gilson. Plus more from Etienne Gilson and more Doubt Reality sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt-reality/etienne-gilson/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt-reality/etienne-gilson/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Doubt Reality",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt-reality/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Etienne Gilson",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt-reality/etienne-gilson/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```