--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But it is the knowledge of necessary and…" description: "\"But it is the knowledge of necessary and eternal truths which distinguishes us from mere animals, and gives us reason and the sciences, raising us to k..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e0/gottfried-leibniz-3585_animal_but-it-is-the-knowledge-of-necessary-and_1869016.png" --- # But it is the knowledge of necessary and eternal truths… ![“But it is the knowledge of necessary and eternal truths which distinguishes us from mere animals, and gives us reason and the sciences, raising us to knowledge of ourselves and God. It is this in us which we call the rational soul or mind.” quote by Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e0/gottfried-leibniz-3585_animal_but-it-is-the-knowledge-of-necessary-and_1869016.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e0/gottfried-leibniz-3585_animal_but-it-is-the-knowledge-of-necessary-and_1869016.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e0/gottfried-leibniz-3585_animal_but-it-is-the-knowledge-of-necessary-and_1869016.png) > “But it is the knowledge of necessary and eternal truths which distinguishes us from mere animals, and gives us reason and the sciences, raising us to knowledge of ourselves and God. It is this in us which we call the rational soul or mind.” [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human rationality, the capacity to grasp eternal truths, separates us from animals and leads to self‑knowledge and understanding of God. **In simple terms:** Reason distinguishes humans from animals and guides us to truth. Key Takeaway Cultivate rational inquiry. Themes reason knowledge spirituality human nature Mood thoughtful inspired Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - education - personal reflection - scientific research - ethical decision making Key Concepts metaphysics epistemology theology Questions to Reflect On - How do you practice rational reflection? - What truths guide your sense of purpose? A Different Perspective Rational insight can be limited by bias or incomplete information. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Eternal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternal/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [God Rational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-rational-593315/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Knowledge God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge-god/) [Mere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mere/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Rational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rational/) [Rational Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rational-soul-261571/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truths Distinguishes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truths-distinguishes-2566449/) [Words of wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words-of-wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [“...it is the knowledge of necessary and eternal truths that distinguishes us from the mere animals and gives us Reason and the sciences, raising…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/it-is-the-knowledge-of-necessary-and-eternal-truths-that/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [The knowledge of God, the belief in God, is what I call an a-rational process. It's not rational - it doesn't proceed by scientific…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-coyne/the-knowledge-of-god-the-belief-in-god-is-what-i-call-an-a-rational/) [George Coyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-coyne/) > [“The self-conscious feedback mechanism of the cortex allows us the hallucination that we are two souls in one body -a rational soul and an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-self-conscious-feedback-mechanism-of-the-cortex-allows-us-the/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [“To obey is the proper office of a rational soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/montaigne/to-obey-is-the-proper-office-of-a-rational-soul/) [Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/montaigne/) > [If the transmigration of a soul takes place into a rational being, it simply becomes the soul of that body. But if the soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sallust/if-the-transmigration-of-a-soul-takes-place-into-a-rational-being-it/) [Sallust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sallust/) > [Just as a mirror, which reflects all things, is set in its own container, so too the rational soul is placed in the fragile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hildegard-of-bingen/just-as-a-mirror-which-reflects-all-things-is-set-in-its-own/) [Hildegard of Bingen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hildegard-of-bingen/) > [“When the man, by means if 'ibadat, succeeded in curbing his animal and canal passions and has thereby rendered submissive his animal soul,making it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syed-muhammad-naquib-al-attas/when-the-man-by-means-if-ibadat-succeeded-in-curbing-his-animal-and/) [Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syed-muhammad-naquib-al-attas/) > [It is God who is the ultimate reason things, and the Knowledge of God is no less the beginning of science than his essence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/it-is-god-who-is-the-ultimate-reason-things-and-the-knowledge-of-god/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [“It is among men of genius and science that Atheism alone is found, but among these alone is cherished an hostility to those errors,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-is-among-men-of-genius-and-science-that-atheism-alone-is-found-but/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Don't neglect your critical faculties. Remember that God is a rational God, who has made us in His own image. 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One concerns the great question of the free and the necessary, above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/there-are-two-famous-labyrinths-where-our-reason-very-often-goes/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [Either there are no corporeal substances, and bodies are merely phenomena which are true or consistent with each other, such as a rainbow or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/either-there-are-no-corporeal-substances-and-bodies-are-merely/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [The present is saturated with the past and pregnant with the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/the-present-is-saturated-with-the-past-and-pregnant-with-the-future/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [Make me the the master of education, and I will undertake to change the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/make-me-the-the-master-of-education-and-i-will-undertake-to-change/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [All the different classes of beings which taken together make up the universe are, in the ideas of God who knows distinctly their essential…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/all-the-different-classes-of-beings-which-taken-together-make-up-the/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [I hold that the mark of a genuine idea is that its possibility can be proved, either a priori by conceiving its cause or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/i-hold-that-the-mark-of-a-genuine-idea-is-that-its-possibility-can-be/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [The monad, of which we shall speak here, is nothing but a simple substance which enters into compounds; simple, that is to say, without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/the-monad-of-which-we-shall-speak-here-is-nothing-but-a-simple/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [There is no way in which a simple substance could begin in the course of nature, since it cannot be formed by means of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/there-is-no-way-in-which-a-simple-substance-could-begin-in-the-course/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [In symbols one observes an advantage in discovery which is greatest when they express the exact nature of a thing briefly and, as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/in-symbols-one-observes-an-advantage-in-discovery-which-is-greatest/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [There is nothing without reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/there-is-nothing-without-reason/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [God, possessing supreme and infinite wisdom, acts in the most perfect manner, not only metaphysically, but also morally speaking, and ... with respect to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/god-possessing-supreme-and-infinite-wisdom-acts-in-the-most-perfect/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [It can have its effect only through the intervention of God, inasmuch as in the ideas of God a monad rightly demands that God,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/it-can-have-its-effect-only-through-the-intervention-of-god-inasmuch/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [I do not conceive of any reality at all as without genuine unity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/i-do-not-conceive-of-any-reality-at-all-as-without-genuine-unity/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [The pleasure we obtain from music comes from counting, but counting unconsciously. Music is nothing but unconscious arithmetic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/the-pleasure-we-obtain-from-music-comes-from-counting-but-counting/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [If we were magically shrunk and put into someone's brain while she was thinking, we would see all the pumps, pistons, gears and levers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/if-we-were-magically-shrunk-and-put-into-someone-s-brain-while-she/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) [Explore all 127 Gottfried Leibniz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) ## More Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. 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It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But it is the knowledge of necessary and eternal truths which distinguishes us from mere animals, and gives us reason and the sciences, raising us to knowledge of ourselves and God. 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