--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Either there are no corporeal substances…" description: "\"Either there are no corporeal substances, and bodies are merely phenomena which are true or consistent with each other, such as a rainbow or a perfectl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc0/gottfried-leibniz-3585_bodies_either-there-are-no-corporeal-substances_67367.png" --- # Either there are no corporeal substances, and bodies are… ![“Either there are no corporeal substances, and bodies are merely phenomena which are true or consistent with each other, such as a rainbow or a perfectly coherent dream, or there is in all corporeal substances something analogous to the soul.” quote by Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc0/gottfried-leibniz-3585_bodies_either-there-are-no-corporeal-substances_67367.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc0/gottfried-leibniz-3585_bodies_either-there-are-no-corporeal-substances_67367.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc0/gottfried-leibniz-3585_bodies_either-there-are-no-corporeal-substances_67367.png) > “Either there are no corporeal substances, and bodies are merely phenomena which are true or consistent with each other, such as a rainbow or a perfectly coherent dream, or there is in all corporeal substances something analogous to the soul.” [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. Leibniz argues that material objects are either mere appearances consistent with each other, like a rainbow, or they contain an inner, soul‑like principle. **In simple terms:** Material vs. inner essence Key Takeaway Objects may be phenomena or have a soul‑like core Themes Metaphysics Ontology Dualism Phenomenology Epistemology Mood Reflective Speculative Intellectual Type Philosophical Theological Scientific When to use this quote - Philosophical debate - Theological discussion - Scientific modeling - Literary analysis - Personal contemplation Key Concepts Substance Phenomena Soul Consistency Practical Applications - Exploring consciousness - Designing AI with inner states Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean for something to be 'real'? - How does the soul‑like analogy affect our view of matter? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bodies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bodies/) [Bodies Merely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bodies-merely-894705/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Consistent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consistent/) [Corporeal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corporeal/) [Corporeal Substances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corporeal-substances-894704/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Rainbow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rainbow/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Substance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/substance/) [Substances Bodies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/substances-bodies-894706/) ## Related quotes > [“So hologram means--" I finally said. "It means non-corporeal, yeah. Which sucks seeing as how there are a lot of very corporeal things I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-hawkins/so-hologram-means-i-finally-said-it-means-non-corporeal-yeah-which/) [Rachel Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-hawkins/) > [“Many buy gadgets they don’t really need, with money they don’t have, for people they don’t actually care for, while infringing their corporeal and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/many-buy-gadgets-they-don-t-really-need-with-money-they-don-t-have/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [“You ought to go beyond the corporeal things and explore the divinity that is residing within you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mwanandeke-kindembo/you-ought-to-go-beyond-the-corporeal-things-and-explore-the-divinity/) [Mwanandeke Kindembo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mwanandeke-kindembo/) > [“It is only with the eyes open that a corporeal form returns, and assembles itself firmly around the hard core of sight.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/it-is-only-with-the-eyes-open-that-a-corporeal-form-returns-and/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [“Practice corporeal politics.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/practice-corporeal-politics/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“The soul is joined to and is separated from the body. Therefore, the soul is corporeal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chrysippus/the-soul-is-joined-to-and-is-separated-from-the-body-therefore-the/) [Chrysippus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chrysippus/) > [“There were corporeal, psychic, and spiritual people. Somatics, psychics, and pneumatics, they called them, from the Greek. Equality goes against nature, however rightly one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olga-tokarczuk/there-were-corporeal-psychic-and-spiritual-people-somatics-psychics/) [Olga Tokarczuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olga-tokarczuk/) > [I work from the body - I try to develop a language of the body. I've invented a term I call "corporeal writing" around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/i-work-from-the-body-i-try-to-develop-a-language-of-the-body-i-ve/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [The corporeal element in man is a large screen and partition that prevents him from perfectly perceiving abstract ideals; this would be the case…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/the-corporeal-element-in-man-is-a-large-screen-and-partition-that/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [Lenelle Moïse's poems render the abstract - policy, disaster, history, diaspora - specific. Her words make the political not just personal, but corporeal: the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-mckeown/lenelle-mo-se-s-poems-render-the-abstract-policy-disaster-history/) [Erin McKeown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-mckeown/) > [No corporeal substance can be so subtle and swift as this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-of-conches/no-corporeal-substance-can-be-so-subtle-and-swift-as-this/) [William of Conches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-of-conches/) > [Corporeal death is not the whole story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/corporeal-death-is-not-the-whole-story/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [“Epidermal Macabre Indelicate is he who loathes The aspect of his fleshy clothes,- The flying fabric stitched on bone, The vesture of the skeleton,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/epidermal-macabre-indelicate-is-he-who-loathes-the-aspect-of-his/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [“I believe that we traverse this Earth, to find the missing materials that we need, for building our eternal homes in the world that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-joybell-c/i-believe-that-we-traverse-this-earth-to-find-the-missing-materials/) [C. JoyBell C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-joybell-c/) > [Every corporeal substance, so far forth as it is corporeal, has a natural fitness for resting in every place where it may be situated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-kepler/every-corporeal-substance-so-far-forth-as-it-is-corporeal-has-a/) [Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-kepler/) ## More by Gottfried Leibniz > [There are two famous labyrinths where our reason very often goes astray. 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/) > [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/) > [God makes nothing without order, and everything that forms itself develops imperceptibly out of small parts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/god-makes-nothing-without-order-and-everything-that-forms-itself/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) [Explore all 127 Gottfried Leibniz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) ## More Bodies quotes > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [Seriously, why don't straight men have bodies like this?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-hobbes/seriously-why-don-t-straight-men-have-bodies-like-this/) [Miranda Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-hobbes/) > [Close contact between science and the practice of collective farms and State farms creates inexhaustible opportunities for the development of theoretical knowledge, enabling us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trofim-lysenko/close-contact-between-science-and-the-practice-of-collective-farms/) [Trofim Lysenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trofim-lysenko/) > [I personally don't have a problem with naked bodies on television.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lesley-anne-down/i-personally-don-t-have-a-problem-with-naked-bodies-on-television/) [Lesley-Anne Down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lesley-anne-down/) > [The eye— it cannot choose but see; we cannot bid the ear be still; our bodies feel, where'er they be, against or with our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/the-eye-it-cannot-choose-but-see-we-cannot-bid-the-ear-be-still-our/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [“Time erodes us all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/time-erodes-us-all/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [“Discrimination is not just racial now. It’s also about the kind of body parts you have.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yudhanjaya-wijeratne/discrimination-is-not-just-racial-now-it-s-also-about-the-kind-of/) [Yudhanjaya Wijeratne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yudhanjaya-wijeratne/) > [I would be a traitor to these poor burned bodies if I came here to talk good fellowship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-schneiderman/i-would-be-a-traitor-to-these-poor-burned-bodies-if-i-came-here-to/) [Rose Schneiderman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-schneiderman/) > [“When bodies talk, a hand brushing across a face declares love the tongue never speaks. When bodies talk, eyes make promises and lips keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stella-payton/when-bodies-talk-a-hand-brushing-across-a-face-declares-love-the/) [Stella Payton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stella-payton/) > [“Dead bodies. Dead bodies. Lots of them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elle-field/dead-bodies-dead-bodies-lots-of-them/) [Elle Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elle-field/) > [“One will in two minds, one heart in two bodies, and two bodies in one flesh.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-pettie/one-will-in-two-minds-one-heart-in-two-bodies-and-two-bodies-in-one/) [George Pettie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-pettie/) > [Angels do not have bodies in the traditional sense, but they have etheric forms that we can feel. Most of us are feeling the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doreen-virtue/angels-do-not-have-bodies-in-the-traditional-sense-but-they-have/) [Doreen Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doreen-virtue/) > [“these hips are big hips. they need space to move around in. they don't fit into little petty places.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/these-hips-are-big-hips-they-need-space-to-move-around-in-they-don-t/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) > [Our bodies are molded rivers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/novalis/our-bodies-are-molded-rivers/) [Novalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/novalis/) > [Each of us now has 2.27 kg (5 lbs) of plastic embedded in our bodies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-suzuki/each-of-us-now-has-2-27-kg-5-lbs-of-plastic-embedded-in-our-bodies/) [David Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-suzuki/) [Browse all 496 Bodies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bodies/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Either there are no corporeal substances, and bodies are merely phenomena which are true or consistent with each other, such as a rainbow or a perfectly coherent dream, or there is in all corporeal substances something analogous to the soul.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gottfried Leibniz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/either-there-are-no-corporeal-substances-and-bodies-are-merely/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bodies" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/either-there-are-no-corporeal-substances-and-bodies-are-merely/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc0/gottfried-leibniz-3585_bodies_either-there-are-no-corporeal-substances_67367.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc0/gottfried-leibniz-3585_bodies_either-there-are-no-corporeal-substances_67367.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc0/gottfried-leibniz-3585_bodies_either-there-are-no-corporeal-substances_67367.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Either there are no corporeal substances, and bodies are merely phenomena which are true or consistent with…” — Gottfried Leibniz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "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": "Gottfried Leibniz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Either there are no corporeal substances,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/either-there-are-no-corporeal-substances-and-bodies-are-merely/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/either-there-are-no-corporeal-substances-and-bodies-are-merely/#breadcrumb" }, { "@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 } } ] } ```