"Cogito, ergo sum" (Latin: "I think, therefore I am") or Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum (Latin: "I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am") is a philosophical statement used by René Descartes, which became a foundational element of Western philosophy. The simple meaning of the phrase is that if someone is wondering whether or not he exists, that is in and of itself proof that he does exist.
The phrase Cogito ergo sum is not used in Descartes's most important work, the Meditations on First Philosophy, but the term "the cogito" is (often confusingly) used to refer to an argument from it. Descartes felt that this phrase, which he had used in his earlier Discourse, had been misleading in its implication that he was appealing to an inference, so he changed it to "I am, I exist" (also often called "the first certainty") in order to avoid the term "cogito."
(Gaius Julius Caesar 100BC-44BC)
This quote has appealed to be since the first time I read it. I know Caesar is probably being literal here but while I don't really expect to conquer Gaul or cross the Rubicon at the head of an army, I'd like to be able to say that I came, saw, and conquered - that I was able to make a difference somewhere and leave a respectable mark in the world.
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