It is a good thing to proceed in order and to establish propositions. This is the way to gain ground and to progress with certainty. Gottfried Leibniz More Quotes by Gottfried Leibniz More Quotes From Gottfried Leibniz One cannot explain words without making incursions into the sciences themselves, as is evident from dictionaries; and, conversely, one cannot present a science without at the same time defining its terms. Gottfried Leibniz defining term science There is no way in which a simple substance could begin in the course of nature, since it cannot be formed by means of compounding. Gottfried Leibniz words-of-wisdom simple mean Now where there are no parts, there neither extension, nor shape, nor divisibility is possible. And these monads are the true atoms of nature and, in a word, the elements of things. Gottfried Leibniz atoms words-of-wisdom elements I do not believe that a world without evil, preferable in order to ours, is possible; otherwise it would have been preferred. It is necessary to believe that the mixture of evil has produced the greatest possible good: otherwise the evil would not have been permitted. The combination of all the tendencies to the good has produced the best; but as there are goods that are incompatible together, this combination and this result can introduce the destruction of some good, and as a result some evil. Gottfried Leibniz evil order believe I don't say that bodies like flint, which are commonly called inanimate, have perceptions and appetition; rather they have something of that sort in them, as worms are in cheese. Gottfried Leibniz cheese body perception According to their [Newton and his followers] doctrine, God Almighty wants to wind up his watch from time to time: otherwise it would cease to move. He had not, it seems, sufficient foresight to make it a perpetual motion. Nay, the machine of God's making, so imperfect, according to these gentlemen; that he is obliged to clean it now and then by an extraordinary concourse, and even to mend it, as clockmaker mends his work. Gottfried Leibniz god wind moving A great doctor kills more people than a great general. Gottfried Leibniz doctors death people The present is great with the future. Gottfried Leibniz Indeed every monad must be different from every other. For there are never in nature two beings, which are precisely alike, and in which it is not possible to find some difference which is internal, or based on some intrinsic quality. Gottfried Leibniz words-of-wisdom differences two We should like Nature to go no further; we should like it to be finite, like our mind; but this is to ignore the greatness and majesty of the Author of things. Gottfried Leibniz nature god science There is nothing without reason. Gottfried Leibniz reason Justice is charity in accordance with wisdom. Gottfried Leibniz charity justice There is a world of created beings - living things, animals, entelechies, and souls - in the least part of matter.... Thus there is nothing waste, nothing sterile, nothing dead in the universe; no chaos, no confusions, save in appearance. Gottfried Leibniz confusion soul animal I agree with you that it is important to examine our presuppositions, throughly and once for all, in order to establish something solid. For I hold that it is only when we can prove all that we bring forward that we perfectly understand the thing under consideration. I know that the common herd takes little pleasure in these researches, but I know also that the common herd take little pains thoroughly to understand things. Gottfried Leibniz words-of-wisdom pain order In whatever manner God created the world, it would always have been regular and in a certain general order. God, however, has chosen the most perfect, that is to say, the one which is at the same time the simplest in hypothesis and the richest in phenomena. Gottfried Leibniz perfect order world These principles have given me a way of explaining naturally the union or rather the mutual agreement [conformité] of the soul and the organic body. The soul follows its own laws, and the body likewise follows its own laws; and they agree with each other in virtue of the pre-established harmony between all substances, since they are all representations of one and the same universe. Gottfried Leibniz agreement law science Music is nothing but unconscious arithmetic. Gottfried Leibniz arithmetic playing-music music-is To love is to place happiness in the heart of another. Gottfried Leibniz love-you heart love Finally there are simple ideas of which no definition can be given; there are also axioms or postulates, or in a word primary principles, which cannot be proved and have no need of proof. Gottfried Leibniz need principles simple ideas There are also two kinds of truths: truth of reasoning and truths of fact. Truths of reasoning are necessary and their opposite is impossible; those of fact are contingent and their opposite is possible. Gottfried Leibniz opposite possible truth impossible
