"All men's miseries derive from not being..." - Quote by Blaise Pascal
All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.
More by Blaise Pascal
“How vain painting is-we admire the realistic depiction of objects which in their original state we don't admire at all.”
“We view things not only from different sides, but with different eyes; we have no wish to find them alike.”
“Curiosity is nothing more than vanity. More often than not we only seek knowledge to show it off.”
More on Misery
“We have already discovered the fact that fear is the chief reason for poverty and failure and misery that takes on a thousand different forms. We have already discovered the fact that the man who masters fear may march on to successful achievement in practically any undertaking, despite all efforts to defeat him.”
“Man is so great that his greatness appears even in the consciousness of his misery. A tree does not know itself to be miserable. It is true that it is misery indeed to know one's self to be miserable; but then it is greatness also. In this way, all man's miseries go to prove his greatness. They are the miseries of a mighty potentate, of a dethroned monarch.”
“Man's greatness is great in that he knows himself wretched. A tree does not know itself wretched. It is then being wretched to know oneself wretched; but it is being great to know that one is wretched.”
More on Solitude
“The lesser the friends, the lesser the chances of betrayal.”
“I have an immense appetite for solitude, like an infant for sleep, and if I don't get enough for this year, I shall cry all the next.”
“Far in the pillared dark Thrush music went- Almost like a call to come in To the dark and lament. But no, I was out for stars: I would not come in. I meant not even if asked, And I hadn't been.”