Quote by John Locke, An Essay Concerning

All ideas come from sensation or reflection.--Let us then suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper, void of all characters, without any ideas; how comes it to be furnished? Whence comes it by that vast store, which the busy and boundless fancy of man has painted on it with an almost endless variety? Whence has it all the materials of reason and knowledge? To this I answer, in one word, from Experience; in that all our knowledge is founded, and from that it ultimately derives itself. Our observation, employed either about external sensible objects, or about the internal operations of our minds, perceived and reflected on by ourselves, is that which supplies our understandings with all the materials of thinking. These two are the fountains of knowledge, from whence all the ideas we have, or can naturally have, do spring.

Summary

This quote by John Locke emphasizes that all ideas originate from either our senses (sensation) or our thoughts and reflections (reflection). Locke compares the mind to a blank piece of paper, suggesting that it starts devoid of any knowledge or ideas. He then explains that our mind becomes furnished with knowledge through experience. Through our observations and reflections on external objects and our inner thoughts, our understanding and knowledge develop. Locke posits that experience is the foundation upon which our knowledge is built, and it serves as the source from which all our ideas originate.