Full Idea
Once in my life I had to raze everything to the ground and begin again from the original foundations, if I wanted to establish anything firm and lasting in the sciences.
Gist of Idea
To achieve good science we must rebuild from the foundations
Source
René Descartes (Meditations [1641], §1.17)
Book Reference
Descartes,René: 'Discourse on Method/The Meditations', ed/tr. Sutcliffe,F.E. [Penguin 1968], p.95
A Reaction
This sentence is the beginning of the Enlightenment. The project of proving absolutely everything, and in a foundational way, is now met with much scepticism. I will never abandon the project!