Nicolas Malebranche
Nicolas Malebranche
Nicolas Malebranche, Cong. Orat., was a French Oratorian priest and rationalist philosopher. In his works, he sought to synthesize the thought of St. Augustine and Descartes, in order to demonstrate the active role of God in every aspect of the world. Malebranche is best known for his doctrines of Vision in God and Occasionalism...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth6 August 1638
CountryFrance
agreeable authority experience faith french-philosopher means pleasant truths
In this connection, faith and experience teach us many truths by means of the short-cut of authority and by the proofs of very pleasant and agreeable feelings.
derive french-philosopher god imagined nature whatever
I derive nothing whatever from my own nature, nothing from the nature imagined by the philosophers - all comes from God and His decrees.
mind attention world
We see things in this material world, wherein our bodies dwell, only because our mind through its attention lives in another world, only because it contemplates the beauties of the archetypal and intelligible world which Reason contains.
pain hate believe
I love good and pleasure, I hate evil and pain, I want to be happy and I am not mistaken in believing, that people, angels and even demons have those same inclinations.
prayer soul natural
Attentiveness is the natural prayer of the Soul,
hands heaven humanity
When I touch a human hand, I touch heaven.
pain passion thinking
I am unable, when I turn to myself, to recognize any of my faculties or my capacities. The inner sensation which I have of myself informs me that I am, that I think, that I will, that I have sensory awareness, that I suffer, and so on; but it provides me with no knowledge whatever of what I am - of the nature of my thought, my sensations, my passions, or my pain - or the mutual relations that obtain between all these things ... I have no idea whatever of my soul.
mind body earth
As our bodies live upon the earth and find sustenance in the fruits which it produces, so our minds feed on the same truths as the intelligible and immutable substance of the divine Word contains.
thorough-understanding order house
I beg of you always to dwell upon the necessity of a thorough understanding of principles, in order to stop the vivacity of his mind, and please do not forget to meditate upon the subject of our discussion.
unions united creatures
All creatures are united to God alone in an immediate union. They depend essentially and directly upon Him. Being all alike equally impotent, they cannot be in reciprocal dependence upon one another.
motivational art eye
Just as our eyes need light in order to see, our minds need ideas in order to create.