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In order to seek truth, it is necessary once in the course of our life, to doubt, as far as possible, of all things.

— René Descartes Principles of Philosophy (1644)

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Notes from Wikiquote

Original Latin: Veritatem inquirenti, semel in vita de omnibus, quantum fieri potest, esse dubitandum

Variants

If you would be a real seeker after truth, you must at least once in your life doubt, as far as possible, all things.

More quotes by René Descartes

I was not, thank heaven, in a condition which compelled me to make merchandise of Science for the bettering of my fortune.

I suppose the body to be nothing but a statue or machine made of earth, which God forms with the explicit intention of making it as much as possible like us.

Le Homme (The Treatise on Man) (1662)

If you would be a real seeker after truth, you must at least once in your life doubt, as far as possible, all things.

The two operations of our understanding, intuition and deduction, on which alone we have said we must rely in the acquisition of knowledge.

Key Philosophical Writings (1997)

Study to sever pleasure from vice.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: René Descartes (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.