All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone. Blaise Pascal More Quotes by Blaise Pascal More Quotes From Blaise Pascal Fashion is a tyrant from which nothing frees us. We must suit ourselves to its fantastic tastes. But being compelled to live under its foolish laws, the wise man is never the first to follow, nor the last to keep it. Blaise Pascal fashionwisemen Let man reawake and consider what he is compared with the reality of things; regard himself lost in this remote corner of Nature; and from the tiny cell where he lodges, to wit the Universe, weigh at their true worth earth, kingdoms, towns, himself. What is a man face to face with infinity? Blaise Pascal cellsmenreality All the excesses, all the violence, and all the vanity of great men, come from the fact that they know not what they are: it being difficult for those who regard themselves at heart as Blaise Pascal realheartbelieve One of the greatest artifices the devil uses to engage men in vice and debauchery, is to fasten names of contempt on certain virtues, and thus fill weak souls with a foolish fear of passing for scrupulous, should they desire to put them in practice. Blaise Pascal practicenamesmen Plurality which is not reduced to unity is confusion; unity which does not depend on plurality is tyranny. Blaise Pascal unityconfusiondoe Kind words produce their images on men's souls. Blaise Pascal kindsoulmen Words differently arranged have a different meaning, and meanings differently arranged have different effects. Blaise Pascal different-meaningseffectsdifferent The strength of a man's virtue should not be measured by his special exertions, but by his habitual acts. Blaise Pascal strengthwisdominspirational What a vast difference there is between knowing God and loving Him. Blaise Pascal loving-himdifferencesknowing No man ever believes with a true and saving faith unless God inclines his heart; and no man when God does incline his heart can refrain from believing. Blaise Pascal heartmenbelieve The man who knows God but does not know his own misery, becomes proud. The man who knows his own misery but does not know God, ends in despair...the knowledge of Jesus Christ constitutes the middle course because in him we find both God and our own misery. Jesus Christ is therefore a God whom we approach without pride, and before whom we humble ourselves without despair. Blaise Pascal pridehumblejesus Justice without force is powerless; force without justice is tyrannical. Blaise Pascal umpiresstrengthjustice We are only troubled by the fears which we, and not nature, give ourselves, for they add to the state in which we are the passions of the state in which we are not. Blaise Pascal powerfulgiving Nothing gives rest but the sincere search for truth. Blaise Pascal sincerevisiongiving The art of subversion, of revolution, is to dislodge established customs by probing down to their origins in order to show how they lack authority and justice. Blaise Pascal justiceorderart Chess is the gymnasium of the mind. Blaise Pascal gymnasiumsmindchess All I know is that I must soon die, but what I know least is this very death which I cannot escape. Blaise Pascal diesknowsdeath It is dangerous to tell the people that the laws are unjust; for they obey them only because they think them just. Therefore it isnecessary to tell them at the same time that they must obey them because they are laws, just as they must obey superiors, not because they are just, but because they are superiors. In this way all sedition is prevented. Blaise Pascal lawpeoplethinking When I have occasionally set myself to consider the different distractions of men, the pains and perils to which they expose themselves I have discovered that all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber. Blaise Pascal painmenfacts The greatest single distinguishing feature of the omnipotence of God is that our imagination gets lost thinking about it. Blaise Pascal omnipotenceimaginationthinking
