The principal effect of the passions is that they incite and persuade the mind to will the events for which they prepared the body.
Rene DescartesThe two operations of our understanding, intuition and deduction, on which alone we have said we must rely in the acquisition of knowledge.
Rene DescartesDivide each difficulty at hand into as many pieces as possible and as could be required to better solve them.
Rene DescartesBefore examining this more carefully and investigating its consequences, I want to dwell for a moment in the contemplation of God, to ponder His attributes in me, to see, admire, and adore the beauty of His boundless light, insofar as my clouded insight allows. Believing that the supreme happiness of the other life consists wholly of the contemplation of divine greatness, I now find that through less perfect contemplation of the same sort I can gain the greatest joy available in this life.
Rene Descartes