I think, therefore I am

See also: I think; therefore, I am; I think; therefore I am; and I think therefore I am

English

Alternative forms

I think; therefore, I am; I think; therefore I am; I think therefore I am

Etymology

Calque of French je pense, donc je suis or perhaps of Latin cōgitō, ergō sum. First written in French by René Descartes, a 17th century French philosopher, in Discourse on the Method (1637) as je pense donc je suis, which he later expressed in Latin in Principles of Philosophy (1644).

Phrase

I think, therefore I am

(philosophy) I am able to think, therefore I exist. A philosophical proof of existence based on the fact that someone capable of any form of thought necessarily exists.

Usage notes

Subject to many humorous variations, such as I drink, therefore I am; I speak, therefore I am; or I shop, therefore I am.

Translations

philosophical proof of existence

Albanian: mendoj, pra jam
Arabic: أُفَكِّر، إِذَن أَنَا مَوْجُود (ʔufakkir, ʔiḏan ʔanā mawjūd), أُفَكِّر، إِذَن أُوجَد (ʔufakkir, ʔiḏan ʔūjad)
Egyptian Arabic: بفكّر فموجود (bafakkar famawgūd)
Armenian: մտածում եմ, ուրեմն կամ (mtacum em, uremn kam)
Breton: prederian, hiviziken me on
Catalan: penso, llavors existeixo
Chinese:
Cantonese: 我思故我在 (ngo⁵ si¹ gu³ ngo⁵ zoi⁶)

Mandarin: 我思故我在 (wǒ sī gù wǒ zài)
Czech: myslím, tedy jsem
Danish: jeg tænker, derfor er jeg
Dutch: ik denk, dus ik ben
Esperanto: mi pensas tial mi estas
Estonian: mõtlen, järelikult olen
Finnish: ajattelen, siis olen
French: je pense, donc je suis
Galician: penso, logo existo, penso, polo tanto, existo
Georgian: ვაზროვნებ მაშასადამე ვარსებობ (vazrovneb mašasadame varsebob)
German: ich denke, also bin ich
Greek: σκέπτομαι, άρα υπάρχω (sképtomai, ára ypárcho)
Gujarati: હું ચંતવું ક્રિવિ હું છું (hũ cantvũ krivi hũ chũ)
Hebrew: אני חושב משמע אני קיים (aní ḥoshév, mashmá' aní qayám)
Hindi: मैं सोचता हूँ इसलिए मैं हूँ m (ma͠i soctā hū̃ islie ma͠i hū̃), मैं सोचती हूँ इसलिए मैं हूँ f (ma͠i soctī hū̃ islie ma͠i hū̃)
Hungarian: gondolkodom, tehát vagyok
Icelandic: ég hugsa, þess vegna er ég
Ido: please add this translation if you can
Indonesian: saya berpikir, maka saya ada
Italian: penso dunque sono
Japanese: 我思う、故に我在り (ware omou, yue ni ware ari)
Khmer: ខ្ញុំគិតថា ហេតុដូច្នេះហើយខ្ញុំមាន (kɲom kɨt, haet doocneh haəy kɲom mien)
Korean: 생각한다 고로 존재한다 (saenggakhanda goro jonjaehanda)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: please add this translation if you can
Lao: ຂ້ອຍຄິດວ່າສະນັ້ນຂ້ອຍ (khǭi khit wā sa nan khǭi)
Latin: cōgitō, ergō sum
Lithuanian: mąstau, vadinasi, esu
Macedonian: мислам, значи постојам (mislam, znači postojam)
Marathi: मी विचार करतो त्याअर्थी मी आहे (mī vicār karto tyāarthī mī āhe)
Mari:
Eastern Mari: шонем, тугеже улам (šońem, tugeže ulam)
Mongolian: би сэтгэж байгаа учраас оршиж байна (bi setgež bajgaa učraas oršiž bajna)
Mongolian: ᠪᠢ
ᠰᠡᠳᠭᠢᠵᠤ
ᠪᠠᠶᠢᠭ᠎ᠠ
ᠤᠴᠢᠷ ᠠᠴᠠ
ᠣᠷᠤᠰᠢᠵᠤ
ᠪᠠᠶᠢᠨ᠎ᠠ (bi sedgiǰu bayig-a učir-ača orusiǰu bayin-a)
Navajo: ntséskees, áko, bee ʼáníshtʼé
Norwegian Bokmål: jeg tenker, derfor er jeg
Norwegian Nynorsk: eg tenkjer, derfor er eg
Occitan: pensi, per consequéncia soi
Old Church Slavonic: мꙑшлѭ оубо есмь (myšljǫ ubo esmĭ)
Polish: myślę, więc jestem
Portuguese: penso, logo existo
Romanian: cuget, deci exist
Russian: мы́слю, сле́довательно, существу́ю (mýslju, slédovatelʹno, suščestvúju), я мы́слю, сле́довательно, я есмь (ja mýslju, slédovatelʹno, ja jesmʹ)
Sanskrit: अहं ध्यायाम्यतः अस्मि (ahaṃ dhyāyāmyataḥ asmi)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: мислим, дакле постојим, мислим, дакле јесам

Roman: mislim, dakle postojim, mislim, dakle jesam
Shona: ndinofunga, saka ndinorarama
Slovak: myslím, teda som
Slovene: mislim, torej sem
Spanish: pienso, luego existo
Swedish: jag tänker, alltså finns jag
Tagalog: naiisip ko, samakatuwid ako ay iyon
Telugu: నేను అనుకుంటున్నాను కలిపించారు (nēnu anukuṇṭunnānu kalipiñcāru)
Thai: ฉันคิดว่าฉันเป็นดังนั้น
Turkish: düşünüyorum, öyleyse varım (tr)
Ukrainian: мислю, отже існую (myslju, otže isnuju), я ми́слю, о́тже я є́сьм (ja mýslju, ótže ja jésʹm)
Urdu: میں سوچتا ہوں اسلئے میں ہوں m (ma͠i soctā hū̃ islie ma͠i hū̃), میں سوچتی ہوں اسلئے میں ہوں f (ma͠i soctī hū̃ islie ma͠i hū̃)
Vietnamese: tôi tư duy, nên tôi tồn tại