Cogito Ergo Sum-thing...

The story goes that Mrs. Descartes was preparing an event to commemorate
the Ascension of 'Abdu'l-Baha. She had invited all the local Baha'is.

Moments before the guests started to arrive she instructed her husband,
Rene, that the pastries on the table to the side were not to be eaten until the commemoration started. To make sure, she gave Rene the job of guarding them until an hour or so after midnight -- at which time she would invite the guests to help themselves. Though deep in thought, he agreed to mind the table.

As the party got into full swing, Descartes found himself in an absorbing
philosophical discussion with Vandyke over why Titian removed a church from
the Venetian background in one of his paintings. To hear each other better, the two wandered away from the crowd, in the direction of the forbidden baked goods.

Without Descartes noticing, Vandyke starting munching thoughtfully on a pastry. Suddenly Descartes snapped out of his thoughts and realised what Vandyke was doing. His reaction surprised Vandyke, who figured that Descartes surely must have just thought of something of great significance.

Discretely, Descartes wrote a message on a napkin and handed it to Vandyke
so as not to attract his wife's attention. However, just at that moment they were interrupted, which meant Vandyke could only stuff the napkin into
his pocket for later.

The next morning he removed the napkin to see what profundity his friend
had bequeathed him and, sure enough, there scrawled in Descartes hand was an expression of timeless insight, "I think they're for 1 am."


(For more on Rene Descartes, follow this link.)