"Man is only a reed, the weakest..." - Quote by Blaise Pascal
Man is only a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is a thinking reed. There is no need for the whole universe to take up arms to crush him: a vapour, a drop of water is enough to kill him. but even if the universe were to crush him, man would still be nobler than his slayer, because he knows that he is dying and the advantage the universe has over him. The universe knows none of this.
More by Blaise Pascal
“Nature has made all her truths independent of one another. Our art makes one dependent on the other. But this is not natural. Each keeps its own place.”
“Force and not opinion is the queen of the world; but it is opinion that uses the force.[Fr., La force est la reine du monde, et non pas l'opinion; mais l'opinion est celle qui use de la force.]”
“Let each of us examine his thoughts”
More on Human Condition
More on Thought
“First, I do not sit down at my desk to put into verse something that is already clear in my mind. If it were clear in my mind, I should have no incentive or need to write about it. We do not write in order to be understood; we write in order to understand.”
“Character repudiates intellect, yet excites it; and character passes into thought, is published so, and then is ashamed before newflashes of moral worth.”
“If you leave the smallest corner of your head vacant for a moment, other people's opinions will rush in from all quarters.”