Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Pascal asks where pleasure originates, suggesting it is not found in physical parts of the body but in something non‑material.
In plain terms
Pleasure comes from an immaterial source, not our body.
What can you take from it?
Consider that feelings may arise from the mind or spirit rather than just the flesh.

Where it applies

  • reflecting on emotions
  • discussing philosophy of mind

Putting it to work

  • meditation on inner experience
  • exploring non‑physical explanations

Questions to consider

  • What evidence supports an immaterial source of pleasure?
  • How does this view affect our understanding of happiness?

Another view

The claim relies on a dualist view that many philosophers dispute.

More from Blaise Pascal

  1. What must I do? I see nothing but obscurities on every side. Shall I believe I am nothing? Shall I believe I am God?

    Permalink to quote #64
  2. Who dispenses reputation? Who makes us respect and rever persons, works, laws, the great? Who but this faculty of imagination? All the riches of the earth are …

    Permalink to quote #66
  3. What amazes me the most is to see that everyone is not amazed at his own weakness.

    Permalink to quote #63

Related quotes

  1. The observer is the observed.

    Jiddu KrishnamurtiJiddu Krishnamurti quote #1
  2. The dogma of the Ghost in the machine.

    Gilbert RyleGilbert Ryle quote #1
  3. I believe that there is a necessary connection in both directions between the physical and the mental, but that it cannot be discovered a priori. Opinion is st…

    Thomas NagelThomas Nagel quote #1