If man were happy, he would be the more so, the less he was diverted, like the saints and God. Blaise Pascal More Quotes by Blaise Pascal More Quotes From Blaise Pascal Il n'y a que deux sortes d'hommes: les uns justes, qui se croient pe cheurs; les autres pe cheurs, qui se croient justes. There are only two types of people: the virtuous who believe themselves to be sinners and the sinners who believe themselves to be virtuous. Blaise Pascal twobelievepeople We run heedlessly into the abyss after putting something in front of us to stop us from seeing it. Blaise Pascal abyssseeingrunning If ignorance were bliss, he'd be a blister Blaise Pascal blistersblissignorance It is the heart which perceives God and not the reason. Blaise Pascal reasonmathheart To understand is to forgive. Blaise Pascal forgivenessforgivingunderstanding God only pours out his light into the mind after having subdued the rebellion of the will by an altogether heavenly gentleness which charms and wins it. Blaise Pascal lightmindwinning No religion except ours has taught that man is born in sin; none of the philosophical sects has admitted it; none therefore has spoken the truth Blaise Pascal philosophicaltaughtmen If we examine our thoughts, we shall find them always occupied with the past or the future. Blaise Pascal our-thoughtspastthinking Vanity is but the surface. Blaise Pascal surfacevanity 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. Blaise Pascal imaginationworldneeds Nature, which alone is good, is wholly familiar and common. Blaise Pascal familiarcommon I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had the time to make it shorter. Blaise Pascal learningusualtime All who say the same things do not possess them in the same manner; and hence the incomparable author of the Art of Conversation pauses with so much care to make it understood that we must not judge of the capacity of a man by the excellence of a happy remark that we heard him make. Let us penetrate, says he, the mind from which it proceeds. It will oftenest be seen that he will be made to disavow it on the spot, and will be drawn very far from this better thought in which he does not believe, to plunge himself into another, quite base and ridiculous. Blaise Pascal menbelieveart There are hardly any truths upon which we always remain agreed, and still fewer objects of pleasure which we do not change every hour, I do not know whether there is a means of giving fixed Blaise Pascal hoursgivingmean Our senses will not admit anything extreme. Too much noise confuses us, too much light dazzles us, too great distance or nearness prevents vision, too great prolixity or brevity weakens an argument, too much pleasure gives pain, too much accordance annoys. Blaise Pascal distancepainlight You corrupt religion either in favour of your friends, or against your enemies. Blaise Pascal favourenemyreligion Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the lack of contradiction a sign of truth. Blaise Pascal contradictionmathematicstruth You are in the same manner surrounded with a small circle of persons... full of desire. They demand of you the benefits of desire... You are therefore properly the king of desire. ...equal Blaise Pascal circleskingsmen What is it, in your opinion, to be a great nobleman? It is to be master of several objects that men covet, and thus to be able to satisfy the wants and the desires of many. It is these Blaise Pascal desiremenlooks People are generally better persuaded by the reasons which they have themselves discovered than by those which have come in to the mind of others. Blaise Pascal minddiscoverypeople
