So if I judge that the wax exists from the
fact that I touch it, the same thing will follow, to wit, that
I am; and if I judge that my imagination, or some other cause,
whatever it is, persuades me that the wax exists, I shall
still conclude the same. And what I have here remarked of wax
may be applied to all other things which are external to me
[and which are met with outside of me]. And further, if the
[notion or] perception of wax has seemed to me clearer and
more distinct, not only after the sight or the touch, but also
after many other causes have rendered it quite manifest to me,
with how much more [evidence] and distinctness must it be said
that I now know myself, since all the reasons which contribute
to the knowledge of wax, or any other body whatever, are yet
better proofs of the nature of my mind! And there are so many
other things in the mind itself which may contribute to the
elucidation of its nature, that those which depend on body
such as these just mentioned, hardly merit being taken into
account.
But finally here I am, having insensibly reverted to the
point I desired, for, since it is now manifest to me that even
bodies are not properly speaking known by the senses or by the
faculty of imagination, but by the understanding only, and
since they are not known from the fact that they are seen or
touched, but only because they are understood, I see clearly
that there is nothing which is easier for me to know than my
mind.
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