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Blaise Pascal Quotes - Page 24

All Quotes Achievement Age Anxiety Appreciation Art Atheism Atheist Authority Beauty Belief Blindness Boredom Certainty Change Character Charity Christ Confusion Curiosity Darkness Death Deception Desire Dignity Doubt Duty Dying Earth Effort Eternity Evil Faith Feelings Giving Glory God Good Deeds Grace Greatness Happiness Hate Heart Heaven History Humanity Humility Hypocrisy Ignorance Imagination Inspirational Intelligence Intuition Jesus Joy Judging Justice Killing Kindness Knowing God Knowledge Life Logic Loss Love Lying Madness Mankind Math Mathematics Mediocrity Moderation Morality Nature Originality Pain Painting Passion Past Peace Perception Philosophy Pleasure Power Pride Progress Purpose Quality Reading Reality Religion Reputation Running Sadness Science Shame Silence Sin Sleep Solitude Soul Spring Struggle Study Style Suffering Time Truth Tyranny Understanding Unity Universe Vision War Water Weakness Winning Wisdom Writing

By a peculiar prerogative, not only each individual is making daily advances in the sciences, and may make advances in morality (which is the science, by way of eminence, of living well and being happy), but all mankind

By a peculiar prerogative, not only each individual is making daily advances in the sciences, and may make advances in morality (which is the science, by way of eminence, of living well and being happy), but all mankind together is making a continual progress in proportion as the universe grows older. So that the whole human race, during the course of so many ages, may be considered as one man who never ceases to live and learn.

Men, Race, Progress

When we would think of God, how many things we find which turn us away from Him, and tempt us to think otherwise. All this is evil, yet it is innate.

God, Thinking, Evil

Blaise Pascal (1829). “Thoughts on Religion and Other Subjects”, p.214

Montaigne is wrong in declaring that custom ought to be followed simply because it is custom, and not because it is reasonable or just.

Reasonable, Ought, Declaring

Blaise Pascal, Henry Rogers, Victor Cousin, Charles Louandre (1859). “The Thoughts, Letters and Opuscules of Blaise Pascal”, p.186

The multitude which is not brought to act as a unity, is confusion. That unity which has not its origin in the multitude is tyranny.

Confusion, Unity, Tyranny

Blaise Pascal (1829). “Thoughts on Religion and Other Subjects”, p.226

Let man then contemplate the whole of nature in her full and grand majesty... No idea approaches it. We may enlarge our conceptions beyond all imaginable space; we only produce atoms in comparison with the reality of things. It is an infinite sphere, the center of which is everywhere, the circumference nowhere.

Nature, Reality, Men

Blaise Pascal (1959). “Pascal's Pensées: Selections”, p.29, Prabhat Prakashan

Man's true nature being lost, everything becomes his nature; as, his true good being lost, everything becomes his good.

Men, Lost Friendship, Lost Everything

I have spent much time in the study of the abstract sciences; but the paucity of persons with whom you can communicate on such subjects disgusted me with them. When I began to study man, I saw that these abstract sciences are not suited to him, and that in diving into them, I wandered farther from my real object than those who knew them not, and I forgave them for not having attended to these things. I expected then, however, that I should find some companions in the study of man, since it was so specifically a duty. I was in error. There are fewer students of man than of geometry.

Real, Communication, Science

We do not worry about being respected in towns through which we pass. But if we are going to remain in one for a certain time, we do worry. How long does this time have to be?

Time, Math, Long

La chose la plus importante a' toute la vie est le choix du me tier: le hasard en dispose. The most important thing in life is to choose a profession: chance arranges for that.

Things In Life, Important, Chance

All err the more dangerously because each follows a truth. Their mistake lies not in following a falsehood but in not following another truth.

Mistake, Lying, Math

I know whom I have believed.

Faith, Knows

God is, or He is not." But to which side shall we incline? Reason can decide nothing here. There is an infinite chaos which separated us. A game is being played at the extremity of this infinite distance where heads or tails will turn up. What will you wager?

God, Distance, Games

Pensees no. 680 (1658). Popularly known as "Pascal's wager."

When we see an effect happen always in the same manner, we infer that it takes place by a natural necessity; as, for instance, that the sun will rise to morrow; but nature often deceives us, and will not submit to its own rules.

Nature, Sun, Deceiving

Any unity which doesn't have its origin in the multitudes is tyranny.

Unity, Tyranny, Multitudes

The married should not forget that to speak of love begets love.

Marriage, Love Is, Married

Opinion is the queen of the world.

Queens, World, Opinion

Blaise Pascal, Thomas Adam (1833). “Thoughts on religion”, p.125

It is not shameful for a man to succumb to pain and it is shameful to succumb to pleasure.

Pain, Men, Pleasure

There are some who speak well and write badly. For the place and the audience warm them, and draw from their minds more than they think of without that warmth.

Writing, Thinking, Mind

Blaise Pascal, W. F. Trotter, T. S. Eliot (2003). “Pensees”, p.12, Courier Corporation

Ugly deeds are most estimable when hidden.

Deeds, Ugly, Goodness

...for the truth is always older than all the opinions men have held regarding it; and one should be ignoring the nature of truth if we imagined that the truth began at the time it came to be known.

Truth, Men, Opinion

Thinking too little about things or thinking too much both make us obstinate and fanatical.

Thinking, Littles, Too Much

Blaise Pascal (2008). “Human Happiness”, Penguin Group USA

Fire. God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of the philosophers and the scholars. I will not forget thy word. Amen.

Fire, Philosopher, Forget

The mind must not be forced; artificial and constrained manners fill it with foolish presumption, through unnatural elevation and vain and ridiculous inflation, instead of solid and vigorous nutriment.

Mind, Ridiculous, Foolish

Blaise Pascal, Henry Rogers, Victor Cousin, Charles Louandre (1861). “The Thoughts, Letters and Opuscules of Blaise Pascal”, p.513

It is natural for the mind to believe and for the will to love; so that, for want of true objects, they must attach themselves to false.

True Love, Believe, Mind

Blaise Pascal (2013). “Pensées”, p.24, Courier Corporation

How vain painting is, exciting admiration by its resemblance to things of which we do not admire the originals.

Admiration, Painting, Vain

Pensees no. 74 (1658)

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