What Pascal said of
What Pascal said of an effective religion is true of any effective doctrine: it must be contrary to nature, to common sense and to pleasure. Eric Hoffer
Pascal
I will say this
I will say this quite plainly, what truly human is -and don’t be afraid of this word- love. And I mean it even with everything that burdens love or, i could say it better, responsibility is actually love, as Pascal said: ‘without concupiscence’ [without lust]… love exists without worrying being loved. Emmanuel Levinas
TeX has found at
TeX has found at least one bug in every Pascal compiler it’s been run on, I think, and at least two in every C compiler Donald Knuth
If Montaigne is a
If Montaigne is a man in the prime of life sitting in his study on a warm morning and putting down the sum of his experience in his rich, sinewy prose, then Pascal is that same man lying awake in the small hours of the night when death seems very close and every thought is … Read more
There’s been some research
There’s been some research in cognitive science, I’m told, that discloses that there have always been perhaps 10 to 15 percent of people who are, as Pascal puts it, so made that they cannot believe. To us, when people talk about faith, it’s white noise. Christopher Hitchens
Kepler’s discovery would not
Kepler’s discovery would not have been possible without the doctrine of conics. Now contemporaries of Kepler-such penetrating minds as Descartes and Pascal-were 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 … Read more
When all moves equally
When all moves equally (says Pascal), nothing seems to move as in a vessel under sail; and when all run by common consent into vice, none appear to do so. He that stops first, views as from a fixed point the horrible extravagance that transports the rest. Charles Caleb Colton
Blaise Pascal used to
Blaise Pascal used to mark with charcoal the walls of his playroom, seeking a means of making a circle perfectly round and a triangle whose sides and angle were all equal. He discovered these things for himself and then began to seek the relationship which existed between them. He did not know any mathematical terms … Read more
Male conspiracy cannot explain
Male conspiracy cannot explain all female failures. I am convinced that, even without restrictions, there still would have been no female Pascal, Milton, or Kant. Genius is not checked by social obstacles: it will overcome. Camille Paglia
Pascal Lee is a
Pascal Lee is a true pioneer of Mars exploration. Buzz Aldrin