Who really said it
Peirce wrote this in Some Consequences of Four Incapacities, his 1868 essay criticizing artificial universal doubt.
Last verified 9 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?
For presentations
Verified quote & credit
“Let us not pretend to doubt in philosophy what we do not doubt in our hearts” Charles Sanders Peirce — Some Consequences of Four Incapacities (1868)
Can you use it?
Free to use, including in commercial and paid presentations — no permission or licence needed.
Image direction — grounded in this quote’s real context; paste into your image tool
In context
Evoking the world of Charles Sanders Peirce — American philosopher and logician. Theme: "Let us not pretend to doubt in philosophy what we do not doubt in our hearts". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
Minimalist
Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Let us not pretend to doubt in philosophy what we do not doubt in our hearts". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
Provenance
Let us not pretend to doubt in philosophy what we do not doubt in our hearts.
The passage is reproduced from the fetched original English text.
Read the sourceHow we verified this
This original English passage appears in a work published before 1931 and is public domain in the United States.
Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.
Context
He distinguishes doubt that arises for a reason from a methodological declaration that one doubts everything. The sentence challenges the pretense of universal skepticism, without forbidding genuine questioning.
Explore
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
Go further
Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.
The fetched Journal of Speculative Philosophy text contains the exact sentence in the opening discussion of Cartesian doubt; Wikiquote also locates it in Collected Papers 5.265.
The entry reproduces the sentence and gives Collected Papers, volume V, paragraph265.
You’re skipping our source pages — these links now open the source directly. Show them again
The author
For writers & researchers
Charles Sanders Peirce. Some Consequences of Four Incapacities. 1868. Journal of Speculative Philosophy, volume2, number3; opening discussion, point1.. Consulted via the linked source.
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Let us not pretend to doubt in philosophy what we do not doubt in our hearts’?” Last verified 9 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/let-us-not-pretend-to-doubt-in-philosophy-what-we-do-not/