74 



DESCARTES. 



not be in the world many minds incomparably 

 superior to mine, but because one cannot so well 

 seize a thing- and make it one s own, when it has 

 been learned from another, as when one has himself 

 discovered it. And so true is this of the present 

 subject that, though I have often explained some of 

 my opinions to persons of much acuteness, who, 

 whilst I was speaking, appeared to understand them 

 very distinctly, yet, when they repeated them, I 

 have observed that they almost always changed 

 them to such an extent that I could no longer 

 acknowledge them as mine. I am glad, by the way, 

 to take this opportunity of requesting posterity 

 never to believe on hearsay that anything has pro 

 ceeded from me which has not been published by 

 myself; and I am not at all astonished at the extrav 

 agances attributed to those ancient philosophers 

 whose own writings we do not possess; whose 

 thoughts, however, I do not on that account suppose 

 to have been really absurd, seeing they were among 

 the ablest men of their times, but only that these 

 have been falsely represented to us. It is observ 

 able, accordingly, that scarcely in a single instance 

 has any one of their disciples surpassed them ; and 

 I am quite sure that the most devoted of the present 

 followers of Aristotle would think themselves happy 

 if they had as much knowledge of nature as he pos 

 sessed, were it even under the condition that they 

 should never afterwards attairL_tn_lr[^1rier In this 

 respect they are like the ivy which never strives to 

 rise above the tree that sustains it, and which fre 

 quently even returns downwards when it has 



