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Full Idea
Whatever is thought by us is either conceived through itself, or involves the concept of another. …Thus one must proceed to infinity, or all thoughts are resolved into those which are conceived through themselves.
Gist of Idea
Our thoughts are either dependent, or self-evident. All thoughts seem to end in the self-evident
Source
Gottfried Leibniz (Of Organum or Ars Magna of Thinking [1679], p.1)
Book Ref
Leibniz,Gottfried: 'Philosophical Writings', ed/tr. Parkinson,G.H.R. [Dent 1973], p.1
A Reaction
This seems to embody the rationalist attitude to foundations. I am sympathetic. Experiences just come to us as basic, but they don't qualify as 'thoughts', let alone knowledge. Experiences are more 'given' than 'conceptual'.