Blaise Pascal Quotes

When you say that Christ did not die for all men, you are abusing a weakness of men, who at once apply this exception to themselves, and this encourages despair, instead of turning them away from it to encourage hope.

For the chief malady of man is 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.

Since [man's] true nature has been lost, anything can become his nature: similarly, true good being lost, anything can become his true good.

El hombre tiene ilusiones como el pájaro alas. Eso es lo que lo sostiene

Where then is this self, if it is neither in the body nor the soul? And how can one love the body or the soul except for the sake of such qualities, which are not what makes up the self, since they are perishable? Would we love the substance of a person’s soul, in the abstract, whatever qualities might be in it? That is not possible, and it would be wrong. Therefore we never love anyone, but only qualities.

The greatness of man is great in that he knows himself to be miserable. A tree does not know itself to be miserable. It is then being miserable to know oneself to be miserable; but it is also being great to know that one is miserable.

Truth is not an object to be possessed; it is a living thing recognized, cultivated by the mind and heart.

If our state were really happy, we should not need to take our minds off it in order to make ourselves happy.

L'esprit croit naturellement, et la volonté aime naturellement; de sorte que, faute de vrais objets, il faut qu'ils s'attachent aux faux.

Do they think that they have given us great pleasure by telling us that they hold our soul to be no more than wind or smoke, and saying it moreover in tones of pride and satisfaction? Is this then something to be said gaily? Is it not on the contrary something to be said sadly, as being the saddest thing in the world?

'Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, and walk therein.'

El amor no tiene edad; siempre está naciendo.

Man’s condition. Inconstancy, boredom, anxiety. (Page 1)

But Pascal is one of those writers who will be and who must be studied afresh by men in every generation. It is not he who changes, but we who change. It is not our knowledge of him that increases, but our world that alters and our attitudes towards it.

[128] Two things teach man about his whole nature: instinct and experience.