I prefer to be called a visionary, or one of the Illuminati, or any of the lovely things with which the imagination (always sarcastic in insignificant minds) usually answers arguments it does not understand and against which it is defenseless, than to agree that bodies can enlighten me, that I am my own master, reason, and light, and that in order to be well-versed in anything I need only consult myself or other men who can perhaps fill my ears with noise, but who certainly cannot fill my mind with light. (LO 613)
The "I am my own master, reason, and light" part (a better translation: 'I am my own teacher, reason, and light') is an allusion to Augustine, whose basic epistemology Malebranche adapts. Which makes it a fitting topic for today, I suppose, since today is the Feast of St. Augustine, although it is superceded by Sunday for liturgical purposes.
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