Blaise Pascal Quotes

“Noble deeds that are concealed are most esteemed.”

“When we wish to correct with advantage, and to show another that he errs, we must notice from what side he views the matter, for on that side it is usually true.”

“The war existing between the senses and reason.”

“Since we cannot know all that there is to be known about anything, we ought to know a little about everything.”

“All is one, all is different. How many natures exist in man? How many vocations? And by what chance does each man ordinarily choose what he has heard praised?”

“Distraction is the only thing that consoles us for our miseries. Yet it is itself the greatest of our miseries.”

“In difficult times carry something beautiful in your heart.”

“To doubt is a misfortune, but to seek when in doubt is an indispensable duty. So he who doubts and seeks not is at once unfortunate and unfair.”

“The sole cause of all human misery is the inability of people to sit quietly in their rooms.”

“One must have deeper motives and judge everything accordingly, but go on talking like an ordinary person.”

“Continuous eloquence wearies. Grandeur must be abandoned to be appreciated. Continuity in everything is unpleasant. Cold is agreeable, that we may get warm.”

“Mankind suffers from two excesses: to exclude reason, and to live by nothing but reason.”

“If we regulate our conduct according to our own convictions, we may safely disregard the praise or censure of others.”

“Let each of us examine his thoughts; he will find them wholly concerned with the past or the future. We almost never think of the present, and if we do think of it, it is only to see what light is throws on our plans for the future. The present is never our end. The past and the present are our means, the future alone our end. Thus we never actually live, but hope to live, and since we are always planning how to be happy, it is inevitable that we should never be so.”

“The only shame is to have none.”

“One-half of the ills of life come because men are unwilling to sit down quietly for thirty minutes to think through all the possible consequences of their acts.”

“To call a king "Prince" is pleasing, because it diminishes his rank.”

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

“The present letter is a very long one, simply because I had no leisure to make it shorter.”

“Vanity is so anchored in the heart of man that a soldier, a soldier's servant, a cook, a porter brags and wishes to have his admirers. Even philosophers wish for them. Those who write against vanity want to have the glory of having written well; and those who read it desire the glory of having read it. I who write this have perhaps this desire, and perhaps those who will read it.”

“How vain painting is, exciting admiration by its resemblance to things of which we do not admire the originals.”

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

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

“Who knows if this other half of life where we think we're awake is not another sleep a little different from the first.”

“Notwithstanding the sight of all our miseries, which press upon us and take us by the throat, we have an instinct which we cannot repress, and which lifts us up.”