Blaise Pascal

“In order to enter into a real knowledge of your condition, consider it in this image: A man was cast by a tempest upon an unknown island, the inhabitants of which were in trouble to find their king, who was lost; and having a strong resemblance both in form and face to this king, he was taken for him, and acknowledged in this capacity by all the people.”

“The Misery of Man Without God”

“Note on a parchment stitched to the lining of Pascal's coat, found by a servant shortly after his death, as quoted in Burkitt Speculum religionis (1929), p. 150”

“FEU. Dieu d'Abraham, Dieu d'Isaac, Dieu de Jacob, non des philosophes et savants. Certitude. Certitude. Sentiment. Joie. Paix. FIRE. God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of the philosophers and scholars. Certainty. Certainty. Feeling. Joy. Peace.”

“Mahomet established a religion by putting his enemies to death; Jesus Christ, by commanding his followers to lay down their own lives. Thoughts on Religion and Philosophy (W. Collins, 1838), Ch. XVI, p. 202”

“On the Art of Persuasion”

“Such statements have also been attributed to Mark Twain , T.S. Eliot , Cicero , and others besides , but this article at Quote Investigator concludes that Pascal's statement is likely the original source of the phrase.”

“Literally: I made this one [letter] longer only because I have not had the leisure to make it shorter.”

“Je n'ai fait celle”

“For as old age is that period of life most remote from infancy, who does not see that old age in this universal man ought not to be sought in the times nearest his birth, but in those most remote from it? Preface to the Treatise on Vacuum”