Death itself is less painful when it comes upon us unawares than the bare contemplation of it, even when danger is far distant.

Put the world's greatest philosopher on a plank that is wider than need be; if there is a precipe below, although his reason may convince him that he is safe, his imagination will prevail.

Man is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed.

Mankind suffers from two excesses: to exclude reason, and to live by nothing but reason.

What matters it that man should have a little more knowledge of the universe? If he has it, he gets little higher. Is he not always infinitely removed from the end, and is not the duration of our life equally removed from eternity, even if it lasts ten years longer?

The statements of atheists ought to be perfectly clear of doubt. Now it is not perfectly clear that the soul is material.

Knowing God without knowing our own wretchedness makes for pride. Knowing our own wretchedness without knowing God makes for despair. Knowing Jesus Christ strikes the balance because he shows us both God and our own wretchedness.