Just as our eyes need light in order to see, our minds need ideas in order to conceive.

Malebranche's first critic was the Abbé Simon Foucher who attacked the Search even before its second volume had been publiNicolas Malebranched. Thus God produces the natural evils that follow from simple laws not because he wills those particular effects but because he wills a world that best reflects his wisdom by achieving the best possible balance between the intrinsic perfection of the work and the simplicity and generality of its laws.

Malebranche is best known for his doctrines of Vision in God and Occasionalism. Known by many as "The Occasional Philosopher" a term coined by David Hume.