30 Blaise Pascal Quotes on Psychology

Blaise Pascal quotes on psychology

1. People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive.

4. L'homme n'est ni ange ni bete, et le malheur veut que qui veut faire l'ange fait la bete.

7. All men naturally hate one another; there could not be four friends in the world. (101)

12. Bless yourself with holy water, have Masses said, and so on; by a simple and natural process this will make you believe, and will dull you - will quiet your proudly critical intellect. (233)

13. Caesar was too old, it seems to me, to go off and amuse himself conquering the world. Such a pastime was all right for Augustus and Alexander; they were young men, not easily held in check, but Caesar ought to have been more mature. (132)

14. Curiosite n'est que vanite. Le plus souvent, on ne veut savoir que pour en parler. (152)

15. 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)

17. Peu d'amities subsisteraient, si chacun savait ce que son ami dit de lui lorsqu'il n'y est pas. (100)

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

24. S'il se vante, je l'abaisse, S'il s'abaisse, je le vante; Et le contredis toujours, Jusqu'a ce qu'il comprenne Qu'il est un monstre incomprehensible. (420)

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

27. 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)

30. 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)

31. Il n'est pas honteux pour l'homme de succomber sous la douleur et il est honteux de succomber sous le plaisir. (160)

33. 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)

36. Man is only a disguise, a liar, a hypocrite, both to himself and to others. (377)

37. Man is so made that if he is told often enough that he is a fool he believes it. (535)

46. 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.

48. The fairest man in the world is not allowed to be judge in his own cause.

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

51. 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.

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

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

61. We would never travel on the sea if we had no hope of telling about it later... We lose our lives with joy provided people talk about it... Even philosophers wish for admirers.

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

66. 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 inadequate without its approval.

71. Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.

76. 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.

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

78. Les hommes se gouvernent plus par caprice que par raison.