Quotes from book
Rules for the Direction of the Mind

Name: Rules for the Direction of the Mind
Author: René Descartes

René DescartesOriginal title Rēgulae ad dīrectiōnem ingeniī (Latin, 1629)

In 1628 or a few years earlier, René Descartes began work on an unfinished treatise regarding the proper method for scientific and philosophical thinking entitled Regulae ad directionem ingenii, or Rules for the Direction of the Mind. This work outlined the basis for his later work on complex problems of mathematics, science, and philosophy. 36 rules were planned in total, although only 21 were actually written. This work was not published during the author's lifetime. A Dutch translation appeared in 1684, and the first Latin edition in 1701.

“The entire method consists in the order and arrangement of the things to which the mind’s eye must turn so that we can discover some truth.”

René Descartes book Rules for the Direction of the Mind

Rules for the Direction of the Mind: X.379
As quoted in [Clarke, Desmond M., 2006, Descartes : a Biography, Cambridge Press, 67, ISBN 978-0-521-82301-2]

“So blind is the curiosity by which mortals are possessed, that they often conduct their minds along unexplored routes, having no reason to hope for success, but merely being willing to risk the experiment of finding whether the truth they seek lies there.”

René Descartes book Rules for the Direction of the Mind

Rules for the Direction of the Mind: IV