Pascal, Blaise (1623-1662)
[I feel] engulfed in
the infinite
immensity of spaces
whereof I know
nothing, and which
know nothing of me.
I am terrified. The
eternal silence of
these infinite
spaces alarms
me.
Pascal, Blaise (1623-1662)
The last thing one knows when writing a book is what to put first.
Pascal, Blaise (1623-1662)
What is man in
nature? Nothing in
relation to the
infinite, all in
relation to nothing,
a mean between
nothing and
everything.
Pascal, Blaise (1623-1662)
Reverend Fathers, my
letters did not
usually follow each
other at such close
intervals, nor were
they so long ....
This one would not
be so long had I but
the leisure to make
it
shorter.
Pascal, Blaise (1623-1662)
Reason is the slow and tortuous method by which these who do not know the truth discover it. The heart has its own reason which reason does not know.
Pascal, Blaise (1623-1662)
The excitement that a gambler feels when making a bet is equal to the amount he might win times the probability of winning it.
In N. Rose Mathematical Maxims and Minims, Raleigh NC:Rome Press Inc., 1988.
Pascal, Blaise (1623-1662)
Let no one say that I have said nothing new... the arrangement of the subject is new. When we play tennis, we both play with the same ball, but one of us places it better.
Pascal, Blaise (1623-1662)
Reason's last step is the recognition that there are an infinite number of things which are beyond it.
Pascal, Blaise (1623-1662)
Through space the universe grasps me and swallows me up like a speck; through thought I grasp it.
Pascal, Blaise (1623-1662)
The sole cause of man's unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room.