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Blaise Pascal

72 quotes

Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, and philosopher. A child prodigy in mathematics, he made foundational contributions to probability theory and invented an early mechanical calculator. His *Pensées*, a collection of fragments on theology and philosophy, remains one of the masterpieces of French prose.

“Man's greatness lies in his power of thought.”

— Blaise Pascal

Power

All Quotes by Blaise Pascal

“The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing.”

— Blaise Pascal

Valentinesday

“Imagination disposes of everything it creates beauty, justice, and happiness, which are everything in this world.”

— Blaise Pascal

Beauty

“It is the heart which perceives God and not the reason. That is what faith is: God perceived by the heart, not by the reason.”

— Blaise Pascal

Faith

“Faith certainly tells us what the senses do not, but not the contrary of what they see it is above, not against them.”

— Blaise Pascal

Faith

“Our soul is cast into a body, where it finds number, time, dimension. Thereupon it reasons, and calls this nature necessity, and can believe nothing else.”

— Blaise Pascal

Nature

“Custom is our nature. What are our natural principles but principles of custom?”

— Blaise Pascal

Nature

“Two things control men's nature, instinct and experience.”

— Blaise Pascal

Experience

“The least movement is of importance to all nature. The entire ocean is affected by a pebble.”

— Blaise Pascal

Nature

“Faith indeed tells what the senses do not tell, but not the contrary of what they see. It is above them and not contrary to them.”

— Blaise Pascal

Faith

“We know the truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart.”

— Blaise Pascal

Truth

“Men often take their imagination for their heart and they believe they are converted as soon as they think of being converted.”

— Blaise Pascal

Imagination

“Nothing gives rest but the sincere search for truth.”

— Blaise Pascal

Truth

“Men despise religion. They hate it and are afraid it may be true.”

— Blaise Pascal

Men

“The greater intellect one has, the more originality one finds in men. Ordinary persons find no difference between men.”

— Blaise Pascal

Men

“To have no time for philosophy is to be a true philosopher.”

— Blaise Pascal

Time

“Habit is a second nature that destroys the first. But what is nature? Why is habit not natural? I am very much afraid that nature itself is only a first habit, just as habit is a second nature.”

— Blaise Pascal

Nature

“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.”

— Blaise Pascal

Men

“Men are so necessarily mad, that not to be mad would amount to another form of madness.”

— Blaise Pascal

Men

“One must know oneself. If this does not serve to discover truth, it at least serves as a rule of life and there is nothing better.”

— Blaise Pascal

Truth

“As men are not able to fight against death, misery, ignorance, they have taken it into their heads, in order to be happy, not to think of them at all.”

— Blaise Pascal

Death