Blaise Pascal Quotes
Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, and Christian philosopher who made foundational contributions to projective geometry, probability theory, and hydrostatics. After a religious experience in 1654 he turned increasingly to theological and philosophical writing in defense of Jansenist Catholicism. The quotes below are attributed to Blaise Pascal, organized by topic.
Browse Blaise Pascal by topic
Blaise Pascal on Death
-
“Mahomet established a religion by putting his enemies to death; Jesus Christ, by commanding his followers to lay down their own lives.”
Thoughts on Religion and Philosophy (W. Collins, 1838), Ch. XVI, p. 202
Blaise Pascal on Justice
-
Attributed to Blaise Pascal:
“Justice without force is powerless; force without justice is tyrannical.”
Blaise Pascal on Knowledge
-
“Preface to the Treatise on Vacuum (c.1651)”
For as old age is that period of life most remote from infancy, who does not see that old age in this universal man ought not to be sought in the times nearest his birth, but in those most remote from it? -
“Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte.”
I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time. Provincial Letters : Letter XVI (4 December 1656) | Literally: I made this one [letter] longer only because I have not had the leisure to make it shorter. | Such statements have also been attributed to Mark Twain , T.S. Eliot , Cicero , and others besides , but this article at Quote Investigator concludes that Pascal's statement i -
“Literally: I made this one [letter] longer only because I have not had the leisure to make it shorter.”
Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte. -
“Such statements have also been attributed to Mark Twain , T.S. Eliot , Cicero , and others besides , but this article at Quote Investigator concludes that Pascal's statement is likely the original source of the phrase.”
Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte. -
“People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive.”
De l'Art de persuader ["On the Art of Persuasion"], written 1658; published posthumously. -
“De l'Art de persuader ["On the Art of Persuasion"], written 1658; published posthumously.”
People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive.
Blaise Pascal on Life
-
“For as old age is that period of life most remote from infancy, who does not see that old age in this universal man ought not to be sought in the times nearest his birth, but in those most remote from it?”
Preface to the Treatise on Vacuum (c.1651)
Blaise Pascal on Love
-
Attributed to Blaise Pascal:
“The heart has its reasons, which reason knows nothing of.”
Blaise Pascal on Mind
-
Attributed to Blaise Pascal:
“Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature; but he is a thinking reed.”
-
Attributed to Blaise Pascal:
“All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”
Blaise Pascal on Nature
-
Attributed to Blaise Pascal:
“The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me.”
Blaise Pascal on Time
-
Attributed to Blaise Pascal:
“I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter.”
-
“I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time. Provincial Letters : Letter XVI (4 December 1656)”
Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte.
Blaise Pascal on Truth
-
Attributed to Blaise Pascal:
“We know the truth not only by reason but also by the heart.”
Things actually not said by Blaise Pascal
A number of widely-shared lines are circulated as Blaise Pascal but are in fact from someone else. Did Blaise Pascal say these? No. Each entry below pairs the line with the person who actually wrote it.
-
Did Blaise Pascal say this? No.
“La netteté d’esprit cause aussi la netteté de la passion; c’est pourquoi un esprit grand et net aime avec ardeur, et il voit distinctement ce qu’il aime.”
Clarity of mind means clarity of passion, too; this is why a great and clear mind loves ardently and sees distinctly what it loves. Discours sur les passions de l'amour ('Discourse on the Passions of Love'), doubtfully attributed to Pascal. (Disputed.)