Blaise Pascal

The heart has its reasons, which reason knows not of.

Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature; but he is a thinking reed.

All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.

The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me.

We are born into a world where everything is determined, but we are free to choose our attitude towards it.

Justice without force is powerless; force without justice is tyrannical.

Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.

Men despise religion; they hate it, and are afraid it may be true.

The last thing one discovers in writing a book is what to put first.

If we submit everything to reason, our religion will have no mysterious or supernatural element. If we offend the principles of reason, our religion will be absurd and ridiculous.

It is not certain that everything is uncertain.

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

The greater the mind, the more it is capable of doubt.

Curiosity is only vanity. Most frequently one wishes to know only for the sake of talking.

Imagination disposes of everything; it creates beauty, justice, and happiness, which is the world's supreme good.

Man is full of needs: he loves only those who can satisfy them all.

To make a man a saint, grace is absolutely necessary; and whoever doubts it does not know what a saint is, or what a man is.

What a chimera then is man! What a novelty! What a monster, what a chaos, what a contradiction, what a prodigy! Judge of all things, imbecile worm of the earth; depositary of truth, a sewer of uncertainty and error; the glory and the scum of the universe.

We are generally more persuaded by the reasons we have ourselves discovered than by those which have occurred to others.

The only good philosophy is that which makes fun of philosophy.