Blaise Pascal Quotes

We almost never think of the present, and if we do think of it, it is only to see what light it throws on our plans for the future. The present is never our end. The past and present are our means, the future alone our end. Thus we never actually live, but hope to live, and since we are always planning how to be happy, it is inevitable that we should never be so. (Page 10)

Сърцето има доводи, които разумът не познава

Nie betrieben die Menschen das Böse so umfassend und freudig wie aus religiöser Überzeugung.

Eloquence is an art of saying things in such a way (1) that those to whom we speak may listen to them without pain and with pleasure; (2) that they feel themselves interested, so that self-love leads them more willingly to reflection upon it.

"We are full of things which take us out of ourselves. Our instinct makes us feel that we must seek our happiness outside ourselves. Our passions impel us outside, even when no objects present themselves to excite them. External objects tempt us of themselves, and call to us, even when we are not thinking of them. And thus philosophers have said in vain, " Retire within yourselves, you will find your good there." We do not believe them, and those who believe them are the most empty and the most foolish."

Reason never wholly overcomes imagination, while the contrary is quite common.

S'il se vante, je l'abaisse;
s'il s'abaisse, je le vante;
et le contredis toujours,
jusqu'à qu'il comprenne
qu'il est un monstre incompréhensible.

It is only by examining a book that we can ascertain what words it contains.

Truly it is an evil to be full of faults; but it is a still greater evil to be full of them and to be unwilling to recognize them.

If we look at our work immediately after completing it, we are still too involved; if too long afterwards, we cannot pick up the thread again.

A true friend is so great an advantage, even for the greatest lords, in order that he may speak well of them, and back them in their absence, that they should do all to have one.

The present is never our end. The past and the present are our means, the future alone our end. Thus, we never actually live, but hope to live.

Jesus Christ typified by Joseph, the beloved of his father, sent by his father to see his brethren, etc., innocent, sold by his brethren for twenty pieces of silver, and thereby becoming their lord, their saviour, the saviour of strangers, and the saviour of the world; which had not been but for their plot to destroy him, their sale and their rejection of him.

In prison Joseph innocent between two criminals; Jesus Christ on the cross between two thieves. Joseph foretells freedom to the one, and death to the other, from the same omens. Jesus Christ saves the elect, and condemns the outcast for the same sins. Joseph foretells only; Jesus Christ acts. Joseph asks him who will be saved to remember him, when he comes into his glory; and he whom Jesus Christ saves asks that He will remember him, when He comes into His kingdom.

I do not know whether God exists, but I know that I have nothing to gain from being an atheist if he does not exist, whereas I have plenty to lose if he does. Hence, this justifies my belief in God.

Omul este asa de mare, încât maretia lui reiese si din aceea ca el se stie nenorocit.