The charm of fame is so great that we like every object to which it is attached, even death.
Blaise PascalMan'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.
Blaise PascalThe Fall is an offense to human reason, but once accepted, it makes perfect sense of the human condition.
Blaise PascalOn the occasions when I have pondered over men's various activities, the dangers and worries they are exposed to at Court or at war, from which so many quarrels, passions, risky, often ill-conceived actions and so on are born, I have often said that man's unhappiness springs from one thing alone, his incapacity to stay quietly in one room.
Blaise Pascal