Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum -- "I think that I think, therefore I think that I am;" as close an approach to certainty as any philosopher has yet made.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the act of thinking as fundamental to existence and certainty.
Ambrose Bierce's quote plays on the famous philosophical statement 'Cogito, ergo sum' by RenΓ© Descartes, suggesting that the act of thinking itself affirms one's existence and reality. Bierce adds a layer of self-awareness by repeating 'I think' to underscore the ongoing process of thought as a means to achieve understanding and certainty in our existence.
In practice
In a philosophy class discussing the nature of existence, one could use this quote to illustrate the importance of thought in defining one's being.
PALM, n. A species of tree . . . of which the familiar "itching palm" ("Palma hominis") is most widely distributed . . . . This noble vegetable exudes a kind of invisible gum, which may be detected by applying to the bark a piece of gold or silver.
Human nature is pretty well balanced; for every lacking virtue there is a rough substitute that will serve at a pinch--as cunning is the wisdom of the unwise, and ferocity the courage of the coward.
Indigestion: A disease which the patient and his friends frequently mistake for deep religious conviction and concern for the salvation of mankind. As the simple Red Man of the Western Wild put it, with, it must be confessed, a certain force: 'Plenty well, no pray; big belly ache, heap God.'
Disobey n:To celebrate with an appropriate ceremony the maturity of a command
NOUMENON, n. That which exists, as distinguished from that which merely seems to exist, the latter being a phenomenon. The noumenon is a bit difficult to locate; it can be apprehended only by a process of reasoning - which is a phenomenon.
PARDON, v. To remit a penalty and restore to the life of crime. To add to the lure of crime the temptation of ingratitude.
Kindness is produced by kindness.
People must be free to work, to save, to own their own home, to take risks, to invest in each other and, in essence, to control their own lives.
It doth not hurt", whispered a faint voice, "She will take you life and all you are and all you care'st for, and she will leave you with nothing but mist and fog. She'll take your joy. And one day you'll wake and your heart and soul will have gone. A husk you'll be, a wisp you'll be, and a thing no more than a dream on waking, or a memory of something forgotten.
As with many Southern Writers, I believe that the special quality of the land itself indelibly shapes the people who dwell upon it.
In a crowd, on a journey, at a banquet even, a line of thought can itself provide its own seclusion.
Perhaps everything lies in knowing what words to speak, what actions to perform, and in what order and rhythm; or else someone's gaze, answer, gesture is enough; it is enough for someone to do something for the sheer pleasure of doing it, and for his pleasure to become the pleasure of others: at that moment, all spaces change, all heights, distances; the city is transfigured, becomes crystalline, transparent as a dragonfly.
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