Thus when we wish to demonstrate a general theorem, we must give the r… — Pensées
SAPIR 861
Thus when we wish to demonstrate a general theorem, we must give the rule as applied to a particular case; but if we wish to demonstrate a particular case, we must begin with the general rule. For we always find the thing obscure which we wish to prove, and that clear which we use for the proof; for, when a thing is put forward to be proved, we first fill ourselves with the imagination that it is therefore obscure, and on the contrary that what is to prove it is clear, and so we understand it easily.
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (WLC), CC BY 4.0