Body Quote by Rene Descartes
“I am thinking, therefore I exist. (...) I was a substance whose whole essence or nature is solely to think, and which does not require any place, or depend on any material thing, in order to exist. Accordingly this 'I' - that is, the soul by which I am what I am - is entirely distinct from the body, and indeed is easier to know than the body, and would not fail to be whatever it is, even if the body did not exist.”
About This Quote
Source Philosophical Treatise: Meditations on First Philosophy, 1641
The mind is a thinking substance distinct from the physical body, and is more certain than material existence.
In simple terms: The mind is separate from the body and more certain.
Key Takeaway
Trust reason over senses.
Themes
philosophy
mind-body
certainty
existence
Mood
contemplative
inquisitive
Type
philosophical
theoretical
When to use this quote
- personal decision making
- ethical reasoning
- mental health
- education
Key Concepts
dualism
rationalism
epistemology
Questions to Reflect On
- What can we know without senses?
- How does this view affect our view of identity?
A Different Perspective
Physical evidence can challenge purely mental conclusions.
![“At another time she asked,'what is a soul?' ' No one knows,'I replied; 'but we know it is not the body, and it is that part of us which thinks and loves and hopes'...[and] is invisible...'But if I write what my soul thinks,'she said, 'then it will be visible, and the words will be its body.” quote by William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/238/william-gibson-642_anne-sullivan_at-another-time-she-asked-what-is-a-soul_2893032.jpg)
![“[About Pierre de Fermat] It cannot be denied that he has had many exceptional ideas, and that he is a highly intelligent man. For my part, however, I have always been taught to take a broad overview of things, in order to be able to deduce from them general rules, which might be applicable…” quote by Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/588/ren-descartes-1376_able_about-pierre-de-fermat-it-cannot-be-deni_89929.jpg)
![“And what more am I? I look for aid to the imagination. [But how mistakenly!] I am not that assemblage of limbs we call the human body; I am not a subtle penetrating air distributed throughout all these members; I am not a wind, a fire, a vapor, a breath or anything at all that I can image. I am…” quote by René Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/207/ren-descartes-1376_human-body_and-what-more-am-i-i-look-for-aid-to-the_115493.jpg)
![“I've used the Phoenix Centrifuge to replicate what the body's going to go through on the flight up. I've also done some gravity tests with ZERO-G [a charter-flight service in Arlington, Va., that uses modified Boeing 727s to simulate weightlessness], which went great.” quote by Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/aa1/richard-branson-256_adventure_i-ve-used-the-phoenix-centrifuge-to-repl_903.jpg)
