For I found myself embarrassed with so many doubts and errors that it seemed to me that the effort to instruct myself had no effect other than the increasing discovery of my own ignorance
René Descartes
Related I'm so embarrassed by that album. I don't even own it myself. EDWARD FURLONG My importance to the world is relatively small. On the other hand, my importance to myself is tremen... NOEL COWARD I seek strength, not to be greater than other, but to fight my greatest enemy, the doubts within mys... P.C. CAST I was very laced with drugs myself, but Fred seemed to be even more so than me. That might have had ... BARRY MCGUIRE I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else ... ABRAHAM LINCOLN There was a point in my life where ignorance ruled me. As I grew and learned, eventually my consciou... MICHAEL ANTHONY JIMENEZ People who pretend to be your friend lead you up a garden path by saying everything that you want to... GARY F EVANS... I could not cry for my own brother; he would not want me to. But I found myself crying for this hate... AMELIA ATWATER-RHODES Team spirit spurs me on. I've always found it easier to be strong for other people than for myse... CHERYL COLE I was homeless for about 8 months, I refused to live with my dad or anyone for that matter. So I sta... ERIC WEST As for myself, I always willingly acknowledge my own self as the principal cause of every good and o... GIACOMO CASANOVA I also found that for myself, since I've had no religious education, it was so interesting to se... BARBARA WALTERS I've wanted to be a writer since I was a boy, though it seemed an unlikely outcome since I showe... GARRISON KEILLOR I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere to go. M... ABRAHAM LINCOLN I had to come to terms with the fact that I wouldn’t have peace with myself until I found a way to... MICHAEL BARBARULO No one ever taught me how to shave; no one ever sat down to watch a Braves game with me. I paid for ... KIP PARDUE The best love that you can give is to love yourself, in spite of your mistakes, in spite of your fai... SHARLENE PRINCE, SHAROCK P. This time around I was so lonely that I was forced to be face to face with myself. Realizing at the ... KANDI DOUGHERTY I froze. It was not guilt that froze me. I had taught myself never to feel guilt. It was not a ghast... KURT VONNEGUT JR. I found myself thinking that perhaps there was something inexorable about the way events unfolded, a... HANYA YANAGIHARA So many people always try to help me carry my luggage and help me do things I can do myself. If I ca... CARRIE UNDERWOOD What used to drive me was the fact that I wanted to be better than everybody at something. One of my... DALEY THOMPSON I like myself a lot more than I used to. I had a very difficult time in my twenties especially. It w... JANET JACKSON I worked with some directors, and it was really collaborative, and I was sort of writing with them. ... PADDY CONSIDINE When I was being honest with myself, I had to own that there was something about me that was drawing... NIECY NASH Feast of Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, 988 I suddenly saw that all the time it was not I who... BEDE GRIFFITHS I see myself as a citizen of the planet. Even as a child, I always found it mindless to root for you... WALLACE SHAWN I always try to put myself in the way of surprise as much as possible. My ambition is to keep challe... DAVID MORRISSEY I start to see that I surround myself with broken people; more broken than me. Ah, yes, let me count... JULIE GREGORY I'm a lot luckier than most people, although I used to look at it the other way around-that so m... DANA HILL I found myself constantly clinging to the things that imprisoned me. For I knew that setting them fr... LAUREN VALENCIA And I began to feel sorry for myself; for so many years, my drawer full of memories had held the sam... PAULO COELHO Even if I was well - I must make myself as good a Philosopher as possible. Now I have had opportuni... JOHN KEATS She set a slow pace and I got kind of trapped into it. In the second set, I picked up the pace and t... AI SUGIYAMA I still held fast to my determination to become a minister; it still seemed to me that that was my d... PIERRE LOTI All I ever did to that apartment was hang fifty yards of yellow theatrical silk across the bedroom w... JOAN DIDION We can never make proper goodbyes. It was your last ride in a Checker cab and you had no warning. It... COLSON WHITEHEAD On the train I saw that world passing my window. It was when I came to see it was I who was passing ... EUDORA WELTY At forty-two, I had never done anything that took my own breath away, and I suppose now that was par... SUE MONK KIDD I guess I just like to challenge myself and push myself harder to do things that I don't think I... BETHANY HAMILTON Over the years my mother's steadfast faith in God has inspired me, particularly when I had to pe... BEN CARSON I was affected because I was thinking how I had worked so many years for that. I was thinking to mys... MEGHAN RYAN You speak in ignorant disdain of the foremost nation of the world," Yongxing said, growing angry him... NAOMI NOVIK I have given myself dork shivers so many times that I would be an outright liar if I characterized m... ELLIE KEMPER I don't make a concerted effort to distinguish myself as Duncan D. Hunter versus Duncan Hunter. ... DUNCAN D. HUNTER I suddenly saw that all the time it was not I who had been seeking God, but God who had been seeking... BEDE GRIFFITHS I had doubts that I could still do it consistently. I've probably surprised myself. My body is still... ARMON GILLIAM It is clear to me now that, owing to my unbounded vanity and to the high standard I set for myself, ... FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY My sister is older than me and would often go off, so I grew up alone in a sense. I had to amuse mys... AMANDA DONOHOE I always had pressure on myself through my life. I put pressure on myself and not from other people.... MEEK MILL The assumption is that if I expend myself for myself in the end all I’ll be left with is myself, a... CRAIG D. LOUNSBROUGH [...] I grew up out of that strange, dreamy childhood of mine and went into the world of reality. I ... L.M. MONTGOMERY When I started writing a business column 15 years ago, I knew I'd found the perfect job for myse... ALLAN SLOAN I could not sit seriously down to write a serious Romance under any other motive than to save my lif... JANE AUSTEN I had struggled so hard and so long that I had simply exhausted myself, only to find that God had al... MICHELLE MCKINNEY HAMMOND And so we stood there in the kitchen, my mother and I, facing off over everything that had built up ... SARAH DESSEN At Norwich, I was injured, and then I went to Leicester, and I found myself on the bench. But I stil... HARRY KANE I haven't received any pressure to be anything other than myself, and for that, I am so grateful... HALIMA ADEN Food Allergies Are Not Due to Food, Rather Are Due to the Constant Contamination of That Food That Y... THEHEALTHFOODGURU I found myself in a rhythm after the first couple of shots that I got. Everything after that was eas... IVAN RADENOVIC When I realised I had a facility for humour, I latched on to it, and it gave me confidence and I bui... CATHERINE TATE I found myself refreshing a page literally to see if the classes were available. It just seemed such... ROCKY SMITH Did I know myself less, I might perhaps venture to handle something or other to the bottom, and to b... MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE The courses I took were very rigorous and demanding, teaching me how to draw from real life. I start... JACQUELYN SINGER I’m not one to despise other people for their sins. I haven’t found one yet, that I didn’t say... ORSON SCOTT CARD I had to do that to redeem myself. I was trying to push too hard, the rear came round and it caught ... LEON HASLAM I kind of learned that I am way too tough of a critic on myself and that other people are not judgin... LINDSAY SLOANE Packing is one of those many things that I feel I know more about than any other person living. (It ... JEROME K. JEROME I became a Communist by studying capitalist political economy, and when I had some understanding of ... FIDEL CASTRO I'm pretty competitive. It seemed like a challenge for me and I love to challenge myself. LINDA METZGER I feel I have to be totally cemented in my position, all: 'You can't tell me what to do with... JENNY SLATE No friend have I. I must live by myself alone; but I know well that God is nearer to me than others ... LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN While I have made errors that I deeply regret, I have never, ever done so with the intent of subvert... KEVIN SHELLEY I like to open for a band as it brings on sort of a challenge and it makes things more interesting. ... KELLY JONES The universe, so vast and beautiful , makes actions and words seem so insignificant. As I grow, I be... JONATHAN WHITMORE I've been asked many times if I considered myself a narcissist, so I looked up the real meaning ... ROBBIE WILLIAMS Years ago I had realized I was blaming myself for it. People and doctors would tell me it wasn't my ... ROBERT ANTHONY I've struggled for confidence and had great doubts about myself. But, personally, I'm not ri... CHARLIE COX I have no way of comparing myself to other people my age; I can't compare myself with Jane Fonda... DIANA RIGG As I began to love myself I found that anguish and emotional suffering are only warning signs that I... CHARLIE CHAPLIN I used to make up stuff in my bio all the time, that I used to be a professional ice-skater and stuf... STEPHEN COLBERT No one told me about boys. I had to figure it out myself. The first thing I learned was that sometim... ELENA ANAYA The imperfections in my family made me learn to deal with things on my own and solve problems for my... LARRY DRAKE But no matter what happens, I spoke up, made a voice for myself, freed from the haunting memories th... JESSICA SORENSEN I am my own biggest critic. Before anyone else has criticized me, I have already criticized myself. ... C. JOYBELL C. They cannot scare me with their empty spaces between stars -- on stars where no human race is. I hav... ROBERT FROST I'm not religious, but I do pray. It's 60 seconds of meditation, visualizing myself, looking... RUPAUL My heart knows me better than I know myself. So, I'm going to let it do all of the talking. KAT BEA We found that out officially this morning, and it will cost us more to remove the debris. But there'... LARRY FLOWERS I tried to get a big enough lead so he couldn't catch me. I thought I was by myself for the last 400... ALAN WEBB I see myself as having three families: my birth family, the family that raised me, and my Cree famil... BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE I'm asking God to bless you with something that unsettles you, disturbs you, and upsets you. CRAIG GROESCHEL I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence. I wanted excitement and the chance to sacrific... LEO TOLSTOY I have had more trouble with myself than with any other man. DWIGHT L. MOODY I often found myself in situations where I had, without thinking, said too much to too many with too... JOHN COREY WHALEY Rather than engage in the sort of selective retention that so many investors tend to do and pretend ... BARRY RITHOLTZ I went to a tattoo parlor and had YES written onto the palm of my left hand, and NO onto my right pa... JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER I was fed up with the situation I found myself in in the 1960s. I didn't like being a barrister&... CARYL CHURCHILL I have no reason not to ensure that the truth is told and I am tired of the way in which the Republi... JOE WILSON That's why we seize the moment try to freeze it and own it, squeeze it and hold it. EMINEM
More René Descartes
Common sense is the most widely shared commodity in the world, for every man is convinced that he is... RENé DESCARTES I suppose therefore that all things I see are illusions; I believe that nothing has ever existed of ... RENé DESCARTES I think; therefore I am. RENé DESCARTES If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt... RENé DESCARTES Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it. RENé DESCARTES So blind is the curiosity by which mortals are possessed, that they often conduct their minds along ... RENé DESCARTES Cogito ergo sum. (I think, therefore I am.) RENé DESCARTES And thus, the actions of life often not allowing any delay, it is a truth very certain that, when it... RENé DESCARTES Whence then come my errors? They come from the sole fact that since the will is much wider in its ra... RENé DESCARTES The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of past centuries. RENé DESCARTES ...the greater objective (representative) perfection there is in our idea of a thing, the greater al... RENé DESCARTES ...we ought also to consider as false all that is doubtful. RENé DESCARTES With me, everything turns into mathematics. RENé DESCARTES But in my opinion, all things in nature occur mathematically. RENé DESCARTES Masked, I advance. RENé DESCARTES It cannot be denied that he RENé DESCARTES Each problem that I solved became a rule, which served afterwards to solve other problems. RENé DESCARTES ...we ought not meanwhile to make use of doubt in the conduct of life. RENé DESCARTES Thus the perception of the infinite is somehow prior in me to the perception of the finite, that is,... RENé DESCARTES Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum. (English: "I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am") RENé DESCARTES It is only prudent never to place complete confidence in that by which we have even once been deceiv... RENé DESCARTES [...] the diversity of our opinions, consequently, does not arise from some being endowed with a lar... RENé DESCARTES The last rule was to make enumerations so complete, and reviews so comprehensive, that I should be c... RENé DESCARTES For, occupied incessantly with the consideration of the limits prescribed to their power by nature, ... RENé DESCARTES Booty Butt, Booty Butt, Booty Butt Cheeks RENé DESCARTES ...it is a mark of prudence never to place our complete trust in those who have deceived us even onc... RENé DESCARTES Let whoever can do so deceive me, he will never bring it about that I am nothing, so long as I conti... RENé DESCARTES At last I will devote myself sincerely and without reservation to the general demolition of my opini... RENé DESCARTES Because reason...is the only thing that makes us men, and distinguishes us from the beasts, I would ... RENé DESCARTES To live without philosophizing is in truth the same as keeping the eyes closed without attempting to... RENé DESCARTES Like a prisoner who dreams that he is free, starts to suspect that it is merely a dream, and wa... RENé DESCARTES Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he alre... DESCARTES The commandment to imitate Jesus does not appear suddenly in a world exempt from imitation; rather i... RENé GIRARD The differences between East and West seem to have been continually on the increase, but this diverg... RENé GUéNON I believe in the magic and authority of words. RENé CHAR A man who makes a plate or a shirt or a loaf of bread or anything our great great ancestors called a... RENé DAUMAL A lot of it is non-verbal, so it translates really well. RENé RUIZ The experience of death is going to get more and more painful, contrary to what many people believe.... RENé GIRARD In somber mood, I re-called my whole life up to this day, and my head spun with the buzzing of a hun... RENé DAUMAL The distance between Don Quixote and the petty bourgeois victim of advertising is not so great as ro... RENé GIRARD The most powerful anti-Christian movement is the one that takes over and "radicalizes" the concern f... RENé GIRARD Our concern for victims is the secular mask of Christian love. RENé GIRARD So long as globalization was slow in coming, everyone hoped and prayed that it would come soon. The ... RENé GIRARD Mature love is like mature infinity: there is no such thing! RENé FRIEDRICH C’est ainsi que, par exemple, l’idée de l’Infini, qui est en réalité la plus positive de to... RENé GUéNON A group called Toxic Audio would be the last place a person would expect to find the types of a capp... RENé RUIZ LONG LIVE...This country is but a wish of the spirit, a counter-sepulcher. <... RENé CHAR Being happy has -huge- advantages. One, you smile more. Training of facial muscles. Automatic! But d... RENé FRIEDRICH The goal of religious thinking is exactly the same as that of technological research -- namely, prac... RENé GIRARD Straight lines go too quickly to appreciate the pleasures of the journey. They rush straight to thei... RENé CREVEL À l’époque primordiale, l’homme était, en lui-même, parfaitement équilibré quant au compl�... RENé GUéNON Desire, desire which knows, we draw no advantage from our shadows except from some veritable soverei... RENé CHAR On peut s’expliquer facilement par là un fait que nous avons eu fréquemment l’occasion de cons... RENé GUéNON I am dead because I lack desire, I lack desire because I think I possess, I think I posses... RENé DAUMAL Quoi qu’il en soit, Leibnitz ne sut jamais s’expliquer nettement sur les principes de son calcul... RENé GUéNON Be that as it may, Leibnitz was never able to explain the principles of his calculus clearly, and th... RENé GUéNON Les formes paraissaient étranges parce qu'elles étaient inconnues. RENé BARJAVEL This place has only three exits, sir: Madness, and Death. RENé DAUMAL Hope is not undeniable; but it's always there. Hope is not invincible; but it keeps coming back. RENé FRIEDRICH The revolutionaries thought they would be destroying vanity when they destroyed the privileges of th... RENé GIRARD The revolutionaries thought they would be destroying vanity when they destroyed the privileges of th... RENé GIRARD It is often by a trivial, even an anecdotal decision, that we direct our activities into a certain c... RENé DUBOS You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place... RENé DAUMAL [...] Sans entrer encore dans la question de la « composition du continu », on voit donc que le no... RENé GUéNON All the means we've been given to stay alert we use to ornament our sleep. If instead of endlessly i... RENé DAUMAL You only fight well for causes you yourself have shaped, with which you identify—and burn. RENé CHAR J'attends avec impatience le jour où les chercheurs se rendront compte que, dans les mythes, ils on... RENé GIRARD Du reste, la majorité des orientalistes ne sont et ne veulent être que des érudits ; tant qu’il... RENé GUéNON The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries. RENE DESCARTES A state is better governed which has few laws, and those laws strictly observed. RENE DESCARTES When it is not in our power to follow what is true, we ought to follow what is most probable. RENE DESCARTES Everything is self-evident. RENE DESCARTES An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why must the pessimist always run to blow it ou... RENE DESCARTES Travelling is almost like talking with those of other centuries. RENE DESCARTES Perfect numbers like perfect men are very rare. RENE DESCARTES In order to improve the mind, we ought less to learn, than to contemplate. RENE DESCARTES Common sense is the most fairly distributed thing in the world, for each one thinks he is so well-en... RENE DESCARTES When writing about transcendental issues, be transcendentally clear. RENE DESCARTES There is nothing so strange and so unbelievable that it has not been said by one philosopher or anot... RENE DESCARTES To know what people really think, pay regard to what they do, rather than what they say. RENE DESCARTES I hope that posterity will judge me kindly, not only as to the things which I have explained, but al... RENE DESCARTES There may indeed be those who would prefer to deny the existence of a God so powerful, rather than b... RENE DESCARTES It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well. RENE DESCARTES If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt... RENE DESCARTES Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it. RENE DESCARTES I am accustomed to sleep, and in my dreams to imagine the same things that lunatics imagine when awa... RENE DESCARTES Let us suppose, then, that we are dreaming, and that all these particulars--namely, the opening of t... RENE DESCARTES Whenever anyone has offended me, I try to raise my soul so high that the offense cannot reach it. RENE DESCARTES The reading of all good books is indeed like a conversation with the noblest men of past centuries w... RENE DESCARTES Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he alre... RENE DESCARTES To know what people really think, pay regard to what they do, rather than what they say. RENE DESCARTES Dubito ergo cogito; cogito ergo sum.(I doubt, therefore I think; I think therefore I am) RENE DESCARTES Except our own thoughts, there is nothing absolutely in our power. RENE DESCARTES One cannot conceive anything so strange and so implausible that it has not already been said by one ... RENE DESCARTES The two operations of our understanding, intuition and deduction, on which alone we have said we mus... RENE DESCARTES I am accustomed to sleep and in my dreams to imagine the same things that lunatics imagine when awak... RENE DESCARTES The senses deceive from time to time, and it is prudent never to trust wholly those who have deceive... RENE DESCARTES I think; therefore I am. RENE DESCARTES Each problem that I solved became a rule, which served afterwards to solve other problems. RENE DESCARTES The greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices as well as of the greatest virtues. RENE DESCARTES Illusory joy is often worth more than genuine sorrow. RENE DESCARTES It is only prudent never to place complete confidence in that by which we have even once been deceiv... RENE DESCARTES The first precept was never to accept a thing as true until I knew it as such without a single doubt... RENE DESCARTES It is not enough to have a good mind. The main thing is to use it well. RENE DESCARTES Each problem that I solved became a rule which served afterwards to solve other problems. RENE DESCARTES Cogito ergo sum. (I think; therefore I am.) RENE DESCARTES Thinking is another attribute of the soul; and here I discover what properly belongs to myself. This... RENE DESCARTES The essence of intelligence is skill in extracting meaning from everyday experience. RENE DESCARTES Dubito ergo cogito; cogito ergo sum. (I doubt, therefore I think; I think therefore I am) RENE DESCARTES If I found any new truths in the sciences, I can say that they follow from, or depend on, five or si... RENE DESCARTES Common sense is the best distributed thing in the world, for everyone thinks he is so well-endowed w... RENE DESCARTES In order to improve the mind, we ought less to learn, than to contemplate RENE DESCARTES I concluded that I might take as a general rule the principle that all things which we very clearly ... RENE DESCARTES The senses deceive from time to time, and it is prudent never to trust wholly those who have deceive... RENE DESCARTES Whenever anyone has offended me, I try to raise my soul so high that the offense cannot reach it RENE DESCARTES It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All go... RENE DESCARTES At the time, my grandparents told my mom, "Lordy, what is Shannen doing?" Now I've calmed down. [on ... RENE DESCARTES The long concatenations of simple and easy reasoning which geometricians use in achieving their most... RENE DESCARTES When I consider this carefully, I find not a single property which with certainty separates the waki... RENE DESCARTES There is nothing so strange or so unbelievable that it has not been said by one philosopher or anoth... RENE DESCARTES Omnia apud me mathematica fiunt. RENE DESCARTES When it is not in our power to determine what it true, we ought to follow what is most probable RENE DESCARTES You just keep pushing. You just keep pushing. I made every mistake that could be made. But I just ke... RENE DESCARTES Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he alre... RENE DESCARTES The principal effect of the passions is that they incite and persuade the mind to will the events fo... RENE DESCARTES I think, therefor I am RENE DESCARTES The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of past centuries. RENE DESCARTES Everybody thinks himself so well supplied with common sense that even those most difficult to please... RENE DESCARTES Of all things, good sense is the most fairly distributed: everyone thinks he is so well supplied wit... RENE DESCARTES Good sense is, of all things among men, the most equally distributed; for everyone thinks himself so... RENE DESCARTES If we possessed a thorough knowledge of all the parts of the seed of any animal (e.g. man), we could... RENE DESCARTES I am indeed amazed when I consider how weak my mind is and how prone to error. RENE DESCARTES I think therefore I exist. RENE DESCARTES The greatest minds, as they are capable of the highest excellencies, are open likewise to the greate... RENE DESCARTES Explanations are relative in the sense that their validity always depends...on how the thing to be e... RENE DESCARTES Good sense is of all things in the world the most equally distributed, for everybody thinks he is so... RENE DESCARTES A state is better governed which has few laws, and those laws strictly observed RENE DESCARTES He who does not have the courage to speak up for his rights cannot earn the respect of others. RENé G. TORRES Gaily I lived as ease and nature taught,
And spent my little life without a thought,
And am amazed t... RENé FRANCOIS REGNIER Para que los pasos no me lloren, para que las palabras no me sangren: canto. OTTO RENé CASTILLO But I don't shut up and I don't die. I live and fight, maddening those who rule my co... OTTO RENé CASTILLO A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between her work and her play; her labor an... FRANçOIS-RENé DE CHATEAUBRIAND Art is contemplation. It is the pleasure of the mind which searches into nature and which there divi... FRANçOIS AUGUSTE RENé RODIN ô enfance du coeur humain qui ne vieillit jamais! voilà donc à quel degré de puérilité notre s... FRANçOIS-RENé DE CHATEAUBRIAND A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor an... FRANçOIS-RENé DE CHATEAUBRIAND An original writer is not one who imitates nobody, but one whom nobody can imitate. FRANçOIS-RENé DE CHATEAUBRIAND Le passé et le présent sont deux statues incomplètes: l'une a été retirée toute mutilée du d�... FRANçOIS-RENé DE CHATEAUBRIAND An infinity of these tiny animals defoliate our plants, our trees, our fruits... they attack our hou... RENé-ANTOINE FERCHAULT DE RéAUMUR