I think, therefore I write

Je pense . . .

"Je pense, donc je suis", wrote René Descartes, the French mathematician who invented the Cartesian coordinates system in the 17th century.

Descartes also wrote it in Latin, "Cogito, ergo sum" in another work of his.

In English, it is that well-known saying that many of us have heard of,

"I think, therefore I am".

It tells us that we are what we think in our thoughts. Our character, our personality, and our disposition is composed by our thinking.

This idea did not originate from the 17th century.

A similar statement was written more than two thousand years earlier, around the 6th century B.C. by King Solomon in the ancient kingdom of Israel, in his "Sayings of the wise", the book of Proverbs which subsequently became part of the Old Testament of the Bible.

"For as a man thinketh, so is he . . ." , wrote King Solomon in Proverbs 23:7 KJV

King Solomon's complete statement says, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.", telling us that a person's real character comes from what he thinks inwardly, not what he says' to you outwardly.

A similar saying also exists in an ancient Chinese proverb, in the Cantonese dialect, that says,

"You know a person's face, but you do not know his heart"

Again, this statement tells us that a person's thoughts and intents make him the person he is.

As such, we cannot really know a person just by listening to his words, or seeing his deeds. We can only be certain if we know what he is thinking in his heart.

If only we can see what everybody is thinking. If only we know what's in their hearts.

There is, however, one group of people whom we can know very well by their actions.

They are writers.

Writers write what they think. A writer thinks, therefore he writes. If you want to know a writer's heart, read his books.

"Je pense, donc j'écris". I think, therefore I write.