Quotes from Blaise Pascal

Miracles enable us to judge doctrine, and doctrine enables us to judge miracles.

Both he who chooses heads and he who chooses tails are equally at fault. They are both in the wrong. True course is not to wager at all.

Happiness is neither within us only, or without us; it is the union of ourselves with God.

We're not looking for this soft, peaceful existence which allows us to think about our unfortunate condition, nor the dangers of war or the burden of office, but the bustle which distracts and amuses us—The reason why we prefer the hunt to the kill. That is why we like noise and activity so much. That is why imprisonment is such a horrific punishment. That is why the pleasure of being alone is incomprehensible.

We do not sustain ourselves in virtue by our own strength, but by the balancing of two opposed vices, just as we remain upright amidst two contrary gales. Remove one of the vices, and we fall into the other.

All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone

Le dernier acte est sanglant, quelque belle soit la comédie en tout le reste.

quod quum naturae et legi impossibile est, possibile facit, immo et præstat gratia Dei per Christum.

If I believe in God and life after death and you do not, and if there is no God, we both lose when we die. However, if there is a God, you still lose and I gain everything.

J'ay souvent dit, que tout le malheur des hommes vient de ne sçavoir pas se tenir en repos dans une chambre.

Small minds are concerned with the extraordinary, great minds with the ordinary

Omul nu este capabil sa vada nici nimicul din care provine, nici infinitul care-l impresoara.

La nature a des perfections pour montrer qu'elle est l'image de Dieu, et des défauts pour montrer qu'elle n'en est que l'image.

Cea mai puternic? surs? de erori este r?zboiul între simÈ›uri È™i raÈ›iune.

Mais Dieu, en imposant, avertit de faire ce qu'on peut, et de demander ce qu'on ne peut pas. »

Donc il donne, à ceux qui le demandent, le secours qu'ils n'avoient pas quand ils ont reçu le commandement. « Et ses préceptes ne sont pas pesans ; car ceux qui sont enfans de Dieu, aiment Jésus-Christ ; et ceux qui l'aiment, gardent sa parole. »

The infinite distance between the mind & the body is a symbol of the distance that is infinitely more, between the intellect & love, for love is divine.

Porque, finalmente, ¿qué es el hombre en la naturaleza? Una nada frente al infinito, un todo frente a la nada, un medio entre nada y todo. Infinitamente alejado de comprender los extremos, el fin de las cosas y su principio le están invenciblemente ocultos en un secreto impenetrable, igualmente incapaz de ver la nada de dónde ha sido sacado y el infinito en que se halla sumido

What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.

Ä°nsanoÄŸlunun tüm mutsuzluÄŸu tek ba??na sessizce bir odada oturamamaktan kaynaklan?r.

Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists.

L'homme n'est ni ange ni be" te, et le malheur veut que qui veut faire l'ange fait la be" te. Man is neither angel nor beast.Unfortunately, he who wants to act the angel often acts the beast.

L'on a beau se cacher a' soi-me" me, l'on aime toujours. We vainly conceal from ourselves the fact that we are always in love.

Vanity is illustrated in the cause and effect of love, as in the case of Cleopatra.