Blaise Pascal Quotes on Philosophy

45 quotes

  1. Entre nous, et l'enfer ou le ciel, il n'y a que la vie entre deux, qui est la chose du monde la plus fragile.

  2. Tout notre raisonnement se reduit a ceder au sentiment. (274)

  3. All these examples of wretchedness prove his greatness. It is the wretchedness of a great lord, the wretchedness of a dispossessed king. (425)

  4. Anyone who found the secret of rejoicing when things go well without being annoyed when they go badly would have found the point. (181)

  5. Epictetus goes much further when he asks: Why do we not lose our temper if someone tells us that we have a headache, while we do lose it if someone says there is anything wrong with our arguments or our choice? (80)

  6. For after all what is man in nature? A nothing in relation to infinity, all in relation to nothing, a central point between nothing and all and infinitely far from understanding either. (72)

  7. For knowledge of the first principles, like space, time, motion, number, is as solid as any derived through reason, and it is on such knowledge, coming from the heart and instinct, that reason has to depend and base all its arguments. (282)

  8. Dieu est une sphere infinie, dont le centre est partout et la circonference nulle part. (72)

  9. How hollow is the heart of man, and how full of excrement! (143)

  10. I cannot imagine a man without thought; he would be a stone or an animal. (339)

  11. If our condition were truly happy we should not need to divert ourselves from thinking about it. (170)

  12. Imagination cannot make fools wise, but it makes them happy, as against reason, which only makes its friends wretched: one covers them with glory, the other with shame. (82)

  13. Il n'est pas certain que tout soit incertain. (387)

  14. It is not in space that I must seek my human dignity, but in the ordering of my thought. It will do me no good to own land. Through space the universe grasps me and swallows me up like a speck; through thought I grasp it. (348)

  15. Knowledge of physical science will not console me for ignorance of morality in time of affliction, but knowledge of morality will always console me for ignorance of physical science. (67)

  16. L'homme est un roseau, le plus faible de la nature, mais c'est un roseau pensant. (347)

  17. Nothing is so conformable to reason as to disavow reason. (272)

  18. One must know oneself. If this does not serve to discover truth, it at least serves as a rule of life, and there is nothing better. (66)

  19. Notre raison est toujours decue par l'inconstance des apparences. (83)

  20. Put the world's greatest philosopher on a plank that is wider than need be; if there is a precipe below, although his reason may convince him that he is safe, his imagination will prevail. (82)

  21. That something so obvious as the vanity of the world should be so little recognized that people find it odd and surprising to be told that it is foolish to seek greatness; that is most remarkable.

  22. The eternal silence of these infinite spaces terrifies me.

  23. The grandeur of man is great in that he knows himself to be miserable.

  24. Le nez de Cleopatre, s'il eut ete plus court, toute la face de la terre aurait change.

  25. The two principles of truth, reason and senses, are not only both not genuine, but are engaged in mutual deception. The senses deceive reason through false appearances, and the senses are disturbed by passions, which produce false impressions.

  26. The wisest reason takes as her own principles those which the imagination of man has everywhere rashly introduced.

  27. There no doubt exist natural laws, but once this fine reason of ours was corrupted, it corrupted everything.

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

  29. This is what I see, and what troubles me. I look on all sides, and everywhere I see nothing but obscurity. Nature offers me nothing that is not a matter of doubt and disquiet.

  30. Those who are clever in imagination are far more pleased with themselves than prudent men could reasonably be.

  31. Thought constitutes the greatness of man.

  32. To make light of philosophy is to be a true philosopher.

  33. La vraie morale se moque de la morale.

  34. We understand nothing of the works of God unless we take it as a principle that He wishes to blind some and to enlighten others.

  35. What a Chimera is man! What a novelty, a monster, a chaos, a contradiction, a prodigy! Judge of all things, an imbecile worm of the earth; depository of truth, and sewer of error and doubt; the glory and refuse of the universe.

  36. What amazes me the most is to see that everyone is not amazed at his own weakness.

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

  38. What part of us feels pleasure? Is it our hand, our arm, our flesh, or our blood? It must obviously be something immaterial.

  39. Qui sait si cette autre moitie de la vie ou nous pensons veiller n'est pas un autre sommeil un peu different du premier.

  40. Wisdom leads us back to childhood.

  41. You must wager; it is not optional... Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God exists... If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists.

  42. If God does not exist, one will lose nothing by believing in him, while if he does exist, one will lose everything by not believing.

  43. Ce qui fait qu'on va si loin dans l'amour, c'est que l'on ne songe pas que l'on aura besoin d'autre chose que ce que l'on aime.

  44. C'est une maladie naturelle a l'homme de croire qu'il possede la verite.

  45. Penser fait la grandeur de l'homme.

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