Blaise Pascal Quotes
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We are so presumptuous that we wish to be known to all the world, even to those who come after us; and we are so vain that the esteem of five or six persons immediately around us is enough to amuse and satisfy us.
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If we examine our thoughts, we shall find them always occupied with the past or the future.
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If man should commence by studying himself, he would see how impossible it is to go further.
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There should be in eloquence that which is pleasing and that which is real; but that which is pleasing should itself be real.
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When we do not know the truth of a thing, it is good that there should exist a common error which determines the mind of man, as, for example, the moon, to which is attributed the change of seasons, the progress of diseases, etc. For the chief malady of man is a restless curiosity about things which he cannot understand; and it is not so bad for him to be in error as to be curious to no purpose.
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We conceal it from ourselves in vain - we must always love something. In those matters seemingly removed from love, the feeling is secretly to be found, and man cannot possibly live for a moment without it.
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Vanity is so secure in the heart of man that everyone wants to be admired: even I who write this, and you who read this.
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Reflect on death as in Jesus Christ, not as without Jesus Christ. Without Jesus Christ it is dreadful, it is alarming, it is the terror of nature. In Jesus Christ it is fair and lovely, it is good and holy, it is the joy of saints.
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Not only do we know God by Jesus Christ alone, but we know ourselves only by Jesus Christ. We know life and death only through Jesus Christ. Apart from Jesus Christ, we do not know what is our life, nor our death, nor God, nor ourselves.
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There are only three types of people; those who have found God and serve him; those who have not found God and seek him, and those who live not seeking, or finding him. The first are rational and happy; the second unhappy and rational, and the third foolish and unhappy.
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We desire truth, and find within ourselves only uncertainty. We seek happiness, and find only misery and death. We cannot but desire truth and happiness, and are incapable of certainty or happiness.
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Imagination decides everything.
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Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much.
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If a soldier or labourer complain of the hardship of his lot, set him to do nothing.
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Nothing gives rest but the sincere search for truth.
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Is it courage in a dying man to go, in weakness and in agony, to affront an almighty and eternal God?
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The imagination disposes of everything. It creates beauty, justice, and happiness, which are the whole of the world.
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There is no arena in which vanity displays itself under such a variety of forms as in conversation.
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Let it not be imagined that the life of a good Christian must be a life of melancholy and gloominess; for he only resigns some pleasures to enjoy others infinitely better.
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Imagination magnifies small objects with fantastic exaggeration until they fill our soul, and with bold insolence cuts down great things to its own size, as when speaking of God.
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It is impossible on reasonable grounds to disbelieve miracles.
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The art of revolutionizing and overturning states is to undermine established customs, by going back to their origin, in order to mark their want of justice.
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Everything that is incomprehensible does not, however, cease to exist.
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The finite is annihilated in the presence of the infinite, and becomes a pure nothing. So our spirit before God, so our justice before divine justice.