Justice and power must be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful, and whatever is powerful may be just.
Blaise PascalRead
What a chimaera then is man, what a novelty, what a monster, what chaos, what a subject of contradiction, what a prodigy! Judge of all things, yet an imbecile earthworm; depository of truth, yet a sewer of uncertainty and error; pride and refuse of the universe. Who shall resolve this tangle?
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the complex and contradictory nature of humanity.
Blaise Pascal's quote delves into the paradoxical qualities of human beings, highlighting how we embody both greatness and insignificance, truth and uncertainty. It questions the essence of humanity as a mixture of contradictions, suggesting that while we possess the ability to judge and understand, we also fall prey to our own limitations and errors.
Themes
HumanityContradictionPhilosophyExistenceSelf-Awareness
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophy class discussing human nature.
More from Blaise Pascal
All quotes βIf 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.
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Those are weaklings who know the truth and uphold it as long as it suits their purpose, and then abandon it.
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Jesus is the God whom we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair.
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If he exalts himself, I humble him. If he humbles himself, I exalt him. And I go on contradicting him Until he understands That he is a monster that passes all understanding.
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What use is it to us to hear it said of a man that he has thrown off the yoke that he does not believe there is a God to watch over his actions, that he reckons himself the sole master of his behavior, and that he does not intend to give an account of it to anyone but himself?
Blaise PascalRead
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