Quotes, Quotations and Sayings

Even those who write against fame wish for the fame of having written well, and those who read their works desire the fame of having read them.

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

Our heart has its reasons that reason cannot know.

We only consult the ear because the heart is wanting.

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

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

The heart has arguments with which the logic of mind is not aquainted.

We arrive at the truth, not by the reason only, but also by the heart.

The origins of disputes between philosophers is, that one class of them have undertaken to raise man by displaying his greatness, and the other to debase him by showing his miseries.

The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.

By a peculiar prerogative, not only each individual is making daily advances in the sciences, and may makes advances in morality, but all mankind together are making a continual progress in proportion as the universe grows older; so that the whole human race, during the course of so many ages, may be considered as one man, who never ceases to live and learn.

Eloquence is a painting of the thoughts.

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

If we let ourselves believe that man began with divine grace, that he forfeited this by sin, and that he can be redeemed only by divine grace through the crucified Christ, then we shall find peace of mind never granted to philosophers. He who cannot believe is cursed, for he reveals by his unbelief that God has not chosen to give him grace.

Pascal Users: To show respect for the 313th anniversary (tomorrow) of the death of Blaise Pascal, your programs will be run at half speed.

To find recreation in amusement is not happiness.

Pascal, n.: A programming language named after a man who would turn over in his grave if he knew about it.

Nothing is so intolerable to man as being fully at rest, without a passion, without business, without entertainment, without care.

We never live, but we hope to live; and as we are always arranging to be happy, it must be that we never are so.

Happiness is neither without us nor within us. It is in God, both without us and within us.

There are only three types of people; those who have found God and serve him; those who have not found God and seek him, and those who live not seeking, or finding him. The first are rational and happy; the second unhappy and rational, and the third foolish and unhappy.

Few friendships would survive if each one knew what his friend says of him behind his back.

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

I maintain that, if everyone knew what others said about him, there would not be four friends in the world.

Men never do evil so fully and cheerfully as when we do it out of conscience.

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.

The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing.

When we are in love we seem to ourselves quite different from what we were before.

Clarity of mind means clarity of passion, too; this is why a great and clear mind loves ardently and sees distinctly what it loves.

If all men knew what each said of the other, there would not be four friends in the world.

If all men knew what others say of them, there would not be four friends in the world.

Ugly deeds are most estimable when hidden.

Man finds nothing so intolerable as to be in a state of complete rest, without passions, without occupation, without diversion, without effort. Then he feels his nullity, loneliness, inadequacy, dependence, helplessness, emptiness.

The highest order of mind is accused of folly, as well as the lowest. Nothing is thoroughly approved but mediocrity. The majority has established this, and it fixes its fangs on whatever gets beyond it either way.

We are only falsehood, duplicity, contradiction; we both conceal and disguise ourselves from ourselves.

The war existing between the senses and reason.

Animals do not admire each other. A horse does not admire its companion.

Beauty is a harmonious relation between something in our nature and the quality of the object which delights us.

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.

The last thing one discovers in composing a work is what to put first.

It is superstitious to put one's hopes in formalities, but arrogant to refuse to submit to them.

The struggle alone pleases us, not the victory.

We like to be deceived.

Desire and force between them are responsible for all our actions; desire causes our voluntary acts, force our involuntary.

Evil is easy, and has infinite forms.

I have discovered that all human evil comes from this, man's being unable to sit still and quiet in a room alone.

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

Faith embraces many truths which seem to contradict each other.

Faith is different from proof; the latter is human, the former is a Gift from God.

The charm of fame is so great that we like every object to which it is attached, even death.