Quotes from Blaise Pascal

Weltliche Dinge muß man erkennen, damit man sie lieben kann. Göttliche Dinge muß man lieben, damit man sie erkennen kann.

Il faut qu'on n'en puisse (dire), ni il est mathématicien, ni prédicateur, ni éloquent mais il est honnête homme. Cette qualité universelle me plaît seule.

Il faut se connaître soi-même: quand cela ne servirait pas à trouver le vrai, cela au moins sert à régler sa vie, et il n'y a rien de plus juste

Dans une grande âme tout est grand

But what is nature? For is custom not natural? I am much afraid that nature is itself only a first custom, as custom is a second nature.

Man is neither angel nor devil, and his tragedy is that he who tries too hard to play the first too often ends up as the second.

It is not the length of years but a multitude of generations that makes things obscure. For truth is only perverted when men change.

les manichéens étoient les luthériens de leur temps, comme les luthériens sont les manichéens du nôtre.

The heart has reasons of which the mind knows nothing.

De verbeelding kan dwazen niets wijs maken, maar ze maakt hen gelukkig.

immo et præstat gratia Dei per Christum.

If the nose of Cleopatra had been shorter, the whole face of the earth would have been changed.

De eeuwige stilte van deze eindeloze ruimte vervult me met angst.

L'art de persuader consiste autant en celui d'agréer qu'en celui de convaincre, tant les hommes se gouvernent plus par caprice que par raison.

O rei está rodeado de pessoas cujo único pensamento é divertir o rei, e evitar que ele pense em si mesmo. Porque ele será infeliz, embora rei, se pensar em si mesmo.

Comme on se gâte l'esprit, on se gâte aussi le sentiment.

Jesus Christ came to blind those who saw clearly, and to give sight to the blind; to heal the sick, and leave the healthy to die; to call to repentance, and to justify sinners, and to leave the righteous in their sins; to fill the needy, and leave the rich empty.

There are only two kinds of men: righteous men who believe themselves sinners; the rest, sinners, who believe themselves righteous. Pascal, Pensées

?tiinÈ›a lucrurilor exterioare nu m? poate consola de necunoaÈ™terea moralei în vremuri de am?r?ciune; dar È™tiinÈ›a moravurilor m? va consola întotdeauna de ignorarea È™tiinÈ›elor exterioare.

Todos los problemas de la humanidad parten de la incapacidad humana de sentarse calmado en una habitación.

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

Man's greatness lies in his power of thought.

Human beings must be known to be loved; but Divine beings must be loved to be known.

It was to equally little purpose that you obtained against Galileo a decree from Rome condemning his opinion respecting the motion of the earth. It will never be proved by such an argument as this that the earth remains stationary; and if it can be demonstrated by sure observation that it is the earth and not the sun that revolves, the efforts and arguments of all mankind put together will not hinder our planet from revolving, nor hinder themselves from revolving along with her.