But it is not sufficient to have made these remarks, we
must also be careful to keep them in mind. For these ancient
and commonly held opinions still revert frequently to my mind,
long and familiar custom having given them the right to occupy
my mind against my inclination and rendered them almost
masters of my belief; nor will I ever lose the habit of
deferring to them or of placing my confidence in them, so long
as I consider them as they really are, i.e. opinions in some
measure doubtful, as I have just shown, and at the same time
highly probable, so that there is much more reason to believe
in than to deny them. That is why I consider that I shall not
be acting amiss, if, taking of set purpose a contrary belief,
I allow myself to be deceived, and for a certain time pretend
that all these opinions are entirely false and imaginary,
until at last, having thus balanced my former prejudices with
my latter [so that they cannot divert my opinions more to one
side than to the other], my judgment will no longer be
dominated by bad usage or turned away from the right knowledge
of the truth.
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