Seneca · On the usefulness of basic principles

Letters 95.62

That which leads to a general agreement, and likewise to a perfect one, is an assured belief in certain facts; but if, lacking this assurance, all things are adrift in our minds, then doctrines are indispensable; for they give to our minds the means of unswerving decision.

Seneca, Letters to Lucilius 95.62, translated by Richard Mott Gummere