Sunday, August 19, 2012

Blaise Pascal (1623 -1662 )

Wisdom from the Pensees

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

 “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.” 

 There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.” 

 “Kind words don't cost much. Yet they accomplish much.” 

There is enough light for those who only desire to see, and enough obscurity for those who have a contrary disposition” 

  “To understand is to forgive.”

 “I would prefer an intelligent hell to a stupid paradise.” 

 There are only two kinds of people we can call reasonable: either those who serve God with their whole heart because they know him, or those who search after him with all their heart because they do not know him.” 

 “If we submit everything to reason our religion will be left with nothing mysterious or supernatural. If we offend the principles of reason our religion will be absurd and ridiculous . . . There are two equally dangerous extremes: to exclude reason, to admit nothing but reason.” 

The Pensees or thoughts on religion and other subjects were short proverb like observations. Pascal wrote with a lucid and insightful style, rich in personal experience, physiological and theological commentary. 













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