--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Descartes spent far too much time in bed…" description: "\"Descartes spent far too much time in bed subject to the persistent hallucination that he was thinking. You are not free from a similar disorder.\" — Fla..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fe/flann-o-brien-6916_bed_descartes-spent-far-too-much-time-in-bed_1140243.png" --- # Descartes spent far too much time in bed subject to the… ![“Descartes spent far too much time in bed subject to the persistent hallucination that he was thinking. You are not free from a similar disorder.” quote by Flann O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fe/flann-o-brien-6916_bed_descartes-spent-far-too-much-time-in-bed_1140243.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fe/flann-o-brien-6916_bed_descartes-spent-far-too-much-time-in-bed_1140243.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fe/flann-o-brien-6916_bed_descartes-spent-far-too-much-time-in-bed_1140243.png) > “Descartes spent far too much time in bed subject to the persistent hallucination that he was thinking. You are not free from a similar disorder.” [Flann O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flann-o-brien/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human consciousness is a fragile illusion, akin to dreaming while awake. **In simple terms:** Thinking may be a hallucination. Key Takeaway Question the nature of thought. Themes philosophy consciousness illusion Mood skeptical thoughtful Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - daily decision making - creative work - meditation - psychotherapy Key Concepts epistemology existentialism Questions to Reflect On - Do you trust your thoughts? - How can you differentiate insight from illusion? A Different Perspective Not all thoughts are unreliable; some guide action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/descartes/) [Hallucination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hallucination/) [Hallucinations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hallucinations/) [Persistent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persistent/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [The hallucination of being a separate ego will not stand up to biological tests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-hallucination-of-being-a-separate-ego-will-not-stand-up-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [I'll never forget it. I was starting to hike up the red rocks, and honestly, it was as if I heard the rock say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwyneth-paltrow/i-ll-never-forget-it-i-was-starting-to-hike-up-the-red-rocks-and/) [Gwyneth Paltrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwyneth-paltrow/) > [The psychotic does not merely think he sees four blue bivalves with floppy wings wandering up the wall; he does see them. An hallucination…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/the-psychotic-does-not-merely-think-he-sees-four-blue-bivalves-with/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [“I believe there's nothing in hallucinations that has anything to do with anything external to the internal psychological state of the person who's got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-feynman/i-believe-there-s-nothing-in-hallucinations-that-has-anything-to-do/) [Richard Feynman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-feynman/) > [Having a vision for what you want is not enough...Vision without execution is hallucination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/having-a-vision-for-what-you-want-is-not-enough-vision-without/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [The Photograph is an extended, loaded evidence — as if it caricatured not the figure of what it represents (quite the converse) but its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/the-photograph-is-an-extended-loaded-evidence-as-if-it-caricatured/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Modern humans became fixated on a collective hallucination of linear time, ignoring the fractal spirals of the surrounding universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/modern-humans-became-fixated-on-a-collective-hallucination-of-linear/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [“At this point, the sequence of my memories is disrupted. 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But in such cases what is believed or disbelieved is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/people-are-said-to-believe-in-god-or-to-disbelieve-in-adam-and-eve/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [The Graff Hallucination is a sculptural masterpiece; a celebration of the miracle of coloured diamonds. 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He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-strobel/i-went-to-a-psychologist-friend-and-said-if-500-people-claimed-to-see/) [Lee Strobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-strobel/) ## More by Flann O'Brien > [“I discovered that everything you do is in response to a request or a suggestion made to you by some other party either inside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flann-o-brien/i-discovered-that-everything-you-do-is-in-response-to-a-request-or-a/) [Flann O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flann-o-brien/) > [Rome wasn't built in A.D.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flann-o-brien/rome-wasn-t-built-in-a-d/) [Flann O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flann-o-brien/) > [Moderation, we find, is an extremely difficult thing to get in this country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flann-o-brien/moderation-we-find-is-an-extremely-difficult-thing-to-get-in-this/) [Flann O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flann-o-brien/) > [Strange enlightenments are vouchsafed to those who seek the higher places.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flann-o-brien/strange-enlightenments-are-vouchsafed-to-those-who-seek-the-higher/) [Flann O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flann-o-brien/) > [“I am your soul and all your souls. When I am gone you are dead. Past humanity is not only implicit in each new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flann-o-brien/i-am-your-soul-and-all-your-souls-when-i-am-gone-you-are-dead-past/) [Flann O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flann-o-brien/) > [Do you know what I am going to tell you, he said with his wry mouth, a pint of plain is your only man.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flann-o-brien/do-you-know-what-i-am-going-to-tell-you-he-said-with-his-wry-mouth-a/) [Flann O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flann-o-brien/) > [A wise old owl once lived in a wood, the more he heard the less he said, the less he said the more he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flann-o-brien/a-wise-old-owl-once-lived-in-a-wood-the-more-he-heard-the-less-he/) [Flann O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flann-o-brien/) > [“In Boston he met a pretty lady, fat and forty, but beautiful with the bloom of cash and collateral.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flann-o-brien/in-boston-he-met-a-pretty-lady-fat-and-forty-but-beautiful-with-the/) [Flann O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flann-o-brien/) > [“Here I had a strange idea not unworthy of de Selby. Why was Joe so disturbed at the suggestion that he had a body?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flann-o-brien/here-i-had-a-strange-idea-not-unworthy-of-de-selby-why-was-joe-so/) [Flann O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flann-o-brien/) > [Your talk," I said, "is surely the handiwork of wisdom because not one word of it do I understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flann-o-brien/your-talk-i-said-is-surely-the-handiwork-of-wisdom-because-not-one/) [Flann O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flann-o-brien/) > [“Thoughts which have no chance of succeeding do not take the trouble to come into your head at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flann-o-brien/thoughts-which-have-no-chance-of-succeeding-do-not-take-the-trouble/) [Flann O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flann-o-brien/) > [When money's tight and is hard to get And your horse has also ran, When all you have is a heap of debt A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flann-o-brien/when-money-s-tight-and-is-hard-to-get-and-your-horse-has-also-ran/) [Flann O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flann-o-brien/) > [still loved but deprived of grace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flann-o-brien/still-loved-but-deprived-of-grace/) [Flann O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flann-o-brien/) > [A woman doesn't care if she hasn't a stomach, provided she looks as if she hasn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flann-o-brien/a-woman-doesn-t-care-if-she-hasn-t-a-stomach-provided-she-looks-as-if/) [Flann O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flann-o-brien/) > [“With these words there came the rending scream of a shattered stirk and an angry troubling of the branches as the poor madman percolated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flann-o-brien/with-these-words-there-came-the-rending-scream-of-a-shattered-stirk/) [Flann O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flann-o-brien/) [Explore all 93 Flann O'Brien quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flann-o-brien/) ## More Bed quotes > [When man of slender visits you / Nothing on earth that one can do / In well he’ll hide, or watery hole / And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-goldstein/when-man-of-slender-visits-you-nothing-on-earth-that-one-can-do-in/) [Jack Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-goldstein/) > [Your idea of fidelity is not having more than one man in bed at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-raphael/your-idea-of-fidelity-is-not-having-more-than-one-man-in-bed-at-the/) [Frederic Raphael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-raphael/) > [The beginning of love is all about the butterflies, but the end of it is when you can't get out of bed in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/the-beginning-of-love-is-all-about-the-butterflies-but-the-end-of-it/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) > [Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadows to the edge of night, Until the stars are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/home-is-behind-the-world-ahead-and-there-are-many-paths-to-tread/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I wish I had as much in bed as I get in the newspapers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-ronstadt/i-wish-i-had-as-much-in-bed-as-i-get-in-the-newspapers/) [Linda Ronstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-ronstadt/) > [ Leave a cavity behind the \[wall\] facings, and on the inside build walls two feet thick, made of red dimension stone or burnt brick… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/leave-a-cavity-behind-the-wall-facings-and-on-the-inside-build-walls/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [Why couldn't Jesus command us to obsess over everything, to try to control and manipulate people, to try not to breathe at all, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/why-couldn-t-jesus-command-us-to-obsess-over-everything-to-try-to/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“To all the secret writers, late-night painters, would-be singers, lapsed and scared artists of every stripe, dig out your paintbrush, or your flute, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shauna-niequist/to-all-the-secret-writers-late-night-painters-would-be-singers-lapsed/) [Shauna Niequist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shauna-niequist/) > [“In the parking lot, she drove and parked in a dark area with no other cars around. She reclined her seat, and listened to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tao-lin/in-the-parking-lot-she-drove-and-parked-in-a-dark-area-with-no-other/) [Tao Lin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tao-lin/) > [It wasn't really touching to be young; it was touching not to be young, because you had less of life left. Touching to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/it-wasn-t-really-touching-to-be-young-it-was-touching-not-to-be-young/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [I have to meditate before I go to bed, always. I have to let the day go and let the eternal in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bellamy-young/i-have-to-meditate-before-i-go-to-bed-always-i-have-to-let-the-day-go/) [Bellamy Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bellamy-young/) > [Sometimes by a woodland stream he watched the water rush over the pebbled bed, its tiny modulations of bounce and flow. 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I didn't know you had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-allyson/i-always-wanted-to-be-a-movie-star-i-thought-it-meant-being-famous/) [June Allyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-allyson/) Browse all 4,159 Bed quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Descartes spent far too much time in bed subject to the persistent hallucination that he was thinking. 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