欧宝娱乐

“When I see the blind and wretched state of men, when I survey the whole universe in its deadness, and man left to himself with no light, as though lost in this corner of the universe without knowing who put him there, what he has to do, or what will become of him when he dies, incapable of knowing anything, I am moved to terror, like a man transported in his sleep to some terrifying desert island, who wakes up quite lost, with no means of escape. Then I marvel that so wretched a state does not drive people to despair.”
― Blaise Pascal

“[Pascal] was the first and perhaps is still the most effective voice to be raised in warning of the consequences of the enthronement of the human ego in contradistinction to the cross, symbolizing the ego's immolation. How beautiful it all seemed at the time of the Enlightenment, that man triumphant would bring to pass that earthly paradise whose groves of academe would ensure the realization forever of peace, plenty, and beatitude in practice. But what a nightmare of wars, famines, and folly was to result therefrom.”
― Malcolm Muggeridge, The End of Christendom

“What Pascal overlooked was the hair-raising possibility that God might out-Luther Luther. A special area in hell might be reserved for those who go to mass. Or God might punish those whose faith is prompted by prudence. Perhaps God prefers the abstinent to those who whore around with some denomination he despises. Perhaps he reserves special rewards for those who deny themselves the comfort of belief. Perhaps the intellectual ascetic will win all while those who compromised their intellectual integrity lose everything.

There are many other possibilities. There might be many gods, including one who favors people like Pascal; but the other gods might overpower or outvote him, 脿 la Homer. Nietzsche might well have applied to Pascal his cutting remark about Kant: when he wagered on God, the great mathematician 'became an idiot.”
― Walter Kaufmann, Critique of Religion and Philosophy

“Fire. God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of the philosophers and the scholars. I will not forget thy word. Amen.”
― Blaise Pascal

“There is a wide yawning black infinity. In every direction the extension is endless, the sensation of depth is overwhelming. And the darkness is immortal. Where light exists, it is pure, blazing, fierce; but light exists almost nowhere, and the blackness itself is also pure and blazing and fierce. But most of all, there is very nearly nothing in the dark; except for little bits here and there, often associated with the light, this infinite receptacle is empty.

This picture is strangely frightening. It should be familiar. It is our universe.

Even these stars, which seem so numerous, are, as sand, as dust, or less than dust, in the enormity of the space in which there is nothing. Nothing! We are not without empathetic terror when we open Pascal鈥檚 笔别苍蝉茅别蝉 and read, 'I am the great silent spaces between worlds.'

[From an undated, handwritten piece of text from the early 1950s which Sagan wrote when he was an undergraduate at the University of Chicago]”
― Carl Sagan

“If this were so; if the desert were 'home'; if our instincts were forged in the desert; to survive the rigours of the desert - then it is easier to understand why greener pastures pall on us; why possessions exhaust us, and why Pascal's imaginary man found his comfortable lodgings a prison.”
― Bruce Chatwin, The Songlines

“廿賳 丕丨鬲賯丕乇 丕賱賳賮爻 賷賵賱丿 兀賰孬乇 丕賱賳夭毓丕鬲 丕噩乇丕賲丕 : 賱兀賳賴 賷噩毓賱 丕賱卮禺氐 賷賳胤賵賷 毓賱賶 賰乇丕賴賷丞 賯丕鬲賱丞 賱賱丨賯賷賯丞 丕賱鬲賷 鬲丿賷賳賴 賴賵 賵鬲馗賴乇 毓賷賵亘賴”
― Blaise Pascal

“Just as all things speak about God to those that know Him, and reveal Him to those that love Him, they also hide Him from all those that neither seek nor know Him.”
― Blaise Pascal

“Pascal's scientific achievements, therefore, did not give him much confidence in the human condition. When he contemplated the immensity of the universe, he was scared stiff:
'When I see the blind and wretched state of man, when I survey the whole universe in its dumbness and man left to himself with no light, as though lost in this corner of the universe, without knowing who put him there, what he has come to do, what will become of him when he dies, incapable of knowing anything, I am moved to terror, like a man transported in his sleep to some terrifying desert island, who wakes up quiet lost with no means of escape. Then I marvel that so wretched a state does not drive people to despair.”
― Karen Armstrong, A History of God: The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam

“There is a remarkable sentence of Pascal according to which we know too little to be dogmatists and too much to be skeptics, which expresses beautifully what Plato conveys through his dialogues.”
― Leo Strauss, On Plato's Symposium

“There are three sources of belief: reason, custom, inspiration.”
― Blaise Pascal, 笔别苍蝉茅别蝉

“Thought constitutes the greatness of man. Man is a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed.”
― Blaise Pascal

“鈥擯ascal, if I remember rightly, would not suffer his mother to kiss him as he feared the contact of her sex.”
― James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

“The sum of evil, Pascal remarked, would be much diminished if men could only learn to sit quietly in their rooms.”
― Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception & Heaven and Hell

“Kepler鈥檚 discovery would not have been possible without the doctrine of conics. Now contemporaries of Kepler鈥攕uch penetrating minds as Descartes and Pascal鈥攚ere abandoning the study of geometry ... because they said it was so UTTERLY USELESS. There was the future of the human race almost trembling in the balance; for had not the geometry of conic sections already been worked out in large measure, and had their opinion that only sciences apparently useful ought to be pursued, the nineteenth century would have had none of those characters which distinguish it from the ancien r茅gime.”
― Charles Sanders Peirce, Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce, Volumes V and VI, Pragmatism and Pragmaticism and Scientific Metaphysics

“Miracles enable us to judge doctrine, and doctrine enables us to judge miracles.”
― Blaise Pascal

“The most surprising and original part of [Lucien Goldmann's] work is, however, the attempt to compare鈥攚ithout assimilating one to another鈥攔eligious faith and Marxist faith: both have in common the refusal of pure individualism (rationalist or empiricist) and the belief in trans-individual values鈥擥od for religion, the human community for socialism. In both cases the faith is based on a wager鈥攖he Pascalian wager on the existence of God and the Marxist wager on the liberation of humanity鈥攖hat presupposes risk, the danger of failure and the hope of success.”
― Michael L枚wy, The War of Gods: Religion and Politics in Latin America

“Pascal is for building pyramids -- imposing, breathtaking, static structures built by armies pushing heavy blocks into place. Lisp is for building organisms -- imposing, breathtaking, dynamic structures built by squads fitting fluctuating myriads of simpler organisms into place.”
― Harold Abelson; Gerald Jay Sussman; Julie Sussman; Eiichi Wada

“La giustizia 猫 soggetta a discussione, la forza 猫 molto riconosciuta e indiscussa. Cos矛 non si 猫 potuto dare la forza alla giustizia perch茅 la forza ha contraddetto la giustizia e ha affermato che solo lei era giusta. E cos矛, non potendo ottenere che ci貌 che 猫 giusto sia forte, si 猫 fatto s矛 che ci貌 che 猫 forte sia giusto”
― Blaise Pascal

“These three people, Pascal, Blake, and Dostoyevsky, illustrate perfectly what I have long believed to be the case, that history consists of parables whereby God communicates in terms that the imagination rather than the mind, faith rather than knowledge, can grasp.”
― Malcolm Muggeridge, The End of Christendom

“Niciodat膬 nu r膬m芒nem 卯n prezent. Anticip膬m viitorul, ca 艧i cum ni s-ar p膬rea c膬 sose艧te prea greu 艧i 卯ncerc膬m s膬-l gr膬bim; evoc膬m trecutul, ca 艧i cum am 卯ncerca s膬 oprim repeziciunea cu care se 卯ndep膬rteaz膬 de noi. Suntem at芒t de nes膬bui葲i, 卯nc芒t cutreier膬m doar timpuri care nu sunt ale noastre 葯i nu ne g芒ndim nicio clip膬 la singurul timp care ne apar葲ine; 艧i at芒t de vanito葯i, 卯nc芒t vis膬m la timpuri care nu exist膬 卯n momentul de fa葲膬, l膬s芒nd s膬 ne scape singurul care exist膬. Adev膬rul este c膬, adesea, prezentul e dureros. 脦l ascundem privirii noastre, fiindc膬 ne provoac膬 suferin牛膬, iar dac膬 e pl膬cut, regret膬m c膬 se indep膬rteaz膬. 脦ncerc膬m s膬-l sus牛inem cu ajutorul viitorului 葯i ne g芒ndim cum s膬 organiz膬m lucruri pe care nu le putem controla, pentru un moment la care nu putem fi siguri c膬 vom ajunge. Dac膬 fiecare 艧i-ar analiza g芒ndurile, le-ar g膬si preocupate 卯n 卯ntregime de trecut ori de viitor. Mai niciodat膬 nu ne g芒ndim la prezent, iar dac膬 o facem, e doar pentru a c膬p膬ta o perspectiv膬 asupra viitorului. Prezentul nu e niciodat膬 牛elul nostru. Trecutul 艧i prezentul ne sunt doar mijloacele de care ne folosim, singurul nostru 葲el fiind viitorul. Astfel, nu ajungem niciodat膬 s膬 tr膬im cu adev膬rat, ci doar sper膬m s膬 o facem. 葮i, din moment ce pl膬nuim ne卯ncetat cum s膬 fim ferici葲i, inevitabil, nu vom fi niciodat膬.”
― Blaise Pascal, Despre fericire

“Auerbach kitaplar谋ndan birinde, g枚z眉me onun bir denemesi 莽arpt谋. Pascal 眉zerine yaz谋lm谋艧 bu denemenin ad谋, "K枚t眉n眉n Zaferi" idi. Auerbach'谋n Pascal'dan al谋nt谋lad谋臒谋 giri艧 b枚l眉m眉 beni 莽ok etkiledi ve son g眉nlerde 莽e艧itli 枚rneklerini 枚臒rendi臒im devlet zulm眉ne bir a莽谋klama getirdi:
Adil olan谋n pe艧inden gidilmesi do臒rudur, en 驳眉莽l眉n眉n pe艧inden gidilmesi ise ka莽谋n谋lmazd谋r. G眉c眉 olmayan adalet acizdir; adaleti olmayan 驳眉莽 ise zalim. G眉c眉 olmayan adalete mutlaka bir kar艧谋 莽谋kan olur, 莽眉nk眉 k枚t眉 insanlar her zaman vard谋r. Adaleti olmayan 驳眉莽 ise t枚hmet alt谋nda kal谋r. Demek ki adalet ile g眉c眉 bir araya getirmek gerek; bunu yapabilmek i莽in de adil olan谋n 驳眉莽l眉, 驳眉莽l眉 olan谋n ise adil olmas谋 gerekir.
Adalet tart谋艧maya a莽谋kt谋r. G眉莽 ise ilk bak谋艧ta tart谋艧谋lmaz bi莽imde anla艧谋l谋r. Bu nedenle g眉c眉 adalete veremedik, 莽眉nk眉 驳眉莽, adalete kar艧谋 莽谋k谋p kendisinin adil oldu臒unu s枚ylemi艧ti. Hakl谋 olan谋 驳眉莽l眉 k谋lamad谋臒谋m谋z i莽in de 驳眉莽l眉 olan谋 hakl谋 k谋ld谋k.”
― Z眉lf眉 Livaneli, Serenad

“Hypocrisy, Milton wrote, is 鈥渢he only evil that walks Invisible, except to God alone.鈥� To ensure that 鈥渘either Man nor Angel can discern鈥� the evil is, nonetheless, a demanding vocation. Pascal had discussed it a few years earlier while recording 鈥渉ow the casuists reconcile the contrarieties between their opinions and the decisions of the popes, the councils, and the Scripture.鈥� 鈥淥ne of the methods in which we reconcile these contradictions,鈥� his casuist interlocutor explains, 鈥渋s by the interpretation of some phrase.鈥� Thus, if the Gospel says, 鈥淕ive alms of your superfluity,鈥� and the task is 鈥渢o discharge the wealthiest from the obligation of alms-giving,鈥� 鈥渢he matter is easily put to rights by giving such an interpretation to the word superfluity that it will seldom or never happen that any one is troubled with such an article.鈥� Learned scholars demonstrate that 鈥渨hat men of the world lay up to improve their circumstances, or those of their relatives, cannot be termed superfluity; and accordingly, such a thing as superfluity is seldom to be found among men of the world, not even excepting kings鈥濃€攏owadays, we call it tax reform. We may, then, adhere faithfully to the preachings of the Gospel that 鈥渢he rich are bound to give alms of their superfluity,鈥� [though] it will seldom or never happen to be obligatory in practice.鈥� 鈥淭here you see the utility of interpretations,鈥� he concludes.”
― Noam Chomsky, Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies

“She knew it was a lizard from pictures in the fairy-tale book, long and lithe and dry and scaly but with legs, unlike a snake (lizards were turned into handsome footmen in "Cinderella"). Probably a skink of some kind. The reptile bore her touch with the vacuous patience of a cold-blooded creature that liked to be warm and didn't smell anything dangerous like a fox or a hawk. Its experience with humans was minimal to none.
Rapunzel, of course, assumed this not-running-away meant it was a potential Wilderness Friend.
"I'm not going to kill you," she promised the little lizard and herself. "You adorable soft-skinned thing! You're perfect!"
She would tell her mother what she had done and then show her mother the lizard... and then it was only a matter of convincing her to take her to the floating lights. She wasn't a danger.
"Isn't that right... Pascal? I'm going to call you Pascal!" And with that she plucked the lizard deftly up and put him on her shoulder.”
― Liz Braswell, What Once Was Mine

“Without knowing why, she brought her hair up to Pascal again. She knew he wouldn't be hurt. The little lizard was intrigued by whatever was going on; he nosed into her locks like a curious kitten.
Immediately the sparkles that pulsed through her hair danced around him, falling and flickering. Soon they completely covered the little lizard like snow. Rapunzel watched, enchanted.
Then he sneezed. Embers of magic flicked and faded as they fell to the earth.
Rapunzel gasped.
Pascal was perfectly fine.
He just wasn't-- Pascal.
He was an entirely different lizard. A lizard Rapunzel had never seen before, in books or anywhere. His eyes were now two balls that perched on the sides of his head and looked around independently of each other. His back was a graceful arch. His feet had two pairs of strange toes that opened up in the middle like claws. And his tail! It curled around and around and clasped onto her arm- prehensile and grasping, not a limp thing that just hung there to help with balance (and to occasionally break off and confuse a predator).
And he was looking at himself! Holding his feet out one at a time and admiring them, thwacking the tip of his tail and snapping his mouth in satisfaction. Like a... person. He thoughtfully gazed back at his body, considering it.
His skin suddenly started to change color: a wave of brown, and then red, pulsed through him from nose to tail.
"Pascal!" Rapunzel cried. "You're a dragon!"
She only wished he had turned into a slightly larger dragon so she could ride and/or hug him.”
― Liz Braswell, What Once Was Mine

“The modern sense of entertainment increasingly resembles what Pascal long ago called divertissement: that is, an activity鈥攁s he wrote in his Thoughts鈥攖hat separates us from the seriousness of existence and fills this existence with false content. Divertissement is thus not only being entertained in the ordinary sense of the word, but living and acting within artificial rules that organize our lives, setting conventional and mostly trivial goals which we pursue, getting involved in disputes and competitions, aspiring to honors-making careers, and doing everything that would turn our thoughts away from fundamental existential matters. By escaping the questions of the ultimate meaning of our own lives, or of human life in general, our minds.”
― Ryszard Legutko, The Demon in Democracy: Totalitarian Temptations in Free Societies

“A civilization worthy of that name will always feel guilty toward Man and that is, precisely, what makes it a civilization.鈥� Pascal, probably. It鈥檚 always Pascal with the French, when it鈥檚 not La Rochefoucauld. Aristocratic bastards.”
― Romain Gary, The Gasp

“Pascal says more or less: "Kneel down, move your lips in prayer, and you will believe.”
― Louis Althusser, Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses

“I have referred to the air of drama which meets you everywhere in the pages of Sainte-Beuve. He sometimes gets the credit for having dramatized the situation. I wonder, was it he who dramatized the situation or was it the people who were actors in the story? And in particular, was it not Mother Angelique? That great woman was not without her faults; Bremond (who compares her unfavourably throughout with her sister Agnes) writes of her imperiousness, her prodigious freedom in passing judgements on her neighbour; there was no dealing with a woman who was at once up in the clouds and scrupulous. 1 But it is not of her faults that I would write here; they were personal to herself What is more important, it seems to me, is a single weakness which she contrived to hand on to her spiritual children. She was incurably self-conscious; she was always dramatizing situations. She herself said that the object of humiliations was to destroy self and my own will, and the I and the my; St. Cyran, Pascal, Nicole did the same. Of their supernatural achievements it is not for us to judge; but as a matter of plain earthly fact it seems clear that no one of the four ever got rid of that self-consciousness which makes you see yourself out of the comer of your eye at every turn in life.”
― Ronald Knox, Enthusiasm: A Chapter in the History of Religion