DISCOURSE ON METHOD. 



43 



bodies at a great distance appear to us much smaller 

 than they are. For, in fine, whether awake or 

 asleep, we ought never to allow ourselves to be per 

 suaded of the truth of anything unless on the evi 

 dence of our Reason. And it must be noted that I 

 say of our Reason, and not of our imagination or of 

 our senses: thus, for example, although we very 

 clearly see the sun, we ought not therefore to 

 determine that it is only of the size which our sense 

 of sight presents ; and we may very distinctly imag 

 ine the head of a lion joined to the body of a goat, 

 without being therefore shut up to the conclusion 

 that a chinuera exists; for it is not a dictate of 

 Reason that what we thus see or imagine is in reality 

 existent ; but it plainly tells us that all our ideas or 

 notions contain in them some truth ; for otherwise it 

 could not be that God, who is wholly perfect and 

 veracious, should have placed them in us. And 

 because our reasonings are never so clear or so com 

 plete during sleep as when we are awake, although 

 sometimes the acts of our imagination are then as 

 lively and distinct, if not more so than in our wak 

 ing moments, Reason further dictates that, since all 

 our thoughts cannot be true because of our partial 

 imperfection, those possessing truth must infallibly 

 be found in the experience of our waking moments 

 rather than in that of our dreams. 



