Pascal's Pensees by Blaise Pascal (ebook reader android .txt) đź“•
Now the great adversary against whom Pascal set himself, from the time of his first conversations with M. de Saci at Port-Royal, was Montaigne. One cannot destroy Pascal, certainly; but of all authors Montaigne is one of the least destructible. You could as well dissipate a fog by flinging hand-grenades into it. For Montaigne is a fog, a gas, a fluid, insidious element. He does not reason, he insinuates, charms, and influences; or if he reasons, you must be prepared for his having some other design upon you than to convince you by his argument.
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[59] P. 29, l. 19. Omne animal.—See Genesis vii, 14.
[60] P. 30, l. 22. Hence savages, etc.—Montaigne, Essais, i, 22.
[61] P. 32, l. 3. A great part of Europe, etc.—An allusion to the Reformation.
[62] P. 33, l. 13. Alexander's chastity.—Pascal apparently has in mind Alexander's treatment of Darius's wife and daughters after the battle of Issus.
[63] P. 34, l. 17. Lustravit lampade terras.—Part of Cicero's translation of two lines from Homer, Odyssey, xviii, 136. Montaigne, Essais, ii, 12.
Jupiter auctiferas lustravit lampade terras.
[64] P. 34, l. 32. Nature gives, etc.—Montaigne, Essais, i, 19.
[65] P. 37, l. 23. Our nature consists, etc.—Montaigne, Essais, iii, 13.
[66] P. 38, l. 1. Weariness.—Compare Montaigne, Essais, ii, 12.
[67] P. 38, l. 8. Cæsar was too old, etc.—See Montaigne, Essais, ii, 34.
[68] P. 38, l. 30. A mere trifle, etc.—Montaigne, Essais, iii, 4.
[69] P. 40, l. 21. Advice given to Pyrrhus.—Ibid., i, 42.
[70] P. 41, l. 2. They do not know, etc.—Ibid., i, 19.
[71] P. 44, l. 14. They are, etc.—Compare Montaigne, Essais, i, 38.
[72] P. 46, l. 7. Those who write, etc.—A thought of Cicero in Pro Archia, mentioned by Montaigne, Essais, i, 41.
[73] P. 47, l. 3. Ferox gens.—Livy, xxxiv, 17. Montaigne, Essais, i, 40.
[74] P. 47, l. 5. Every opinion, etc.—Montaigne, ibid.
[75] P. 47, l. 12. 184.—This is a reference to Montaigne, Essais, i, 40. See also ibid., iii, 10.
[76] P. 48, l. 8. I know not what (Corneille).—See Médée, II, vi, and Rodogune, I, v.
[77] P. 48, l. 22. In omnibus requiem quæsivi.—Eccles. xxiv, II, in the Vulgate.
[78] P. 50, l. 5. The future alone is our end.—Montaigne, Essais, i, 3.
[79] P. 50, l. 14. Solomon.—Considered by Pascal as the author of Ecclesiastes.
[80] P. 50, l. 20. Unconscious of approaching fever.—Compare Montaigne, Essais, i, 19.
[81] P. 50, l. 22. Cromwell.—Cromwell died in 1658 of a fever, and not of the gravel. The Restoration took place in 1660, and this fragment was written about that date.
[82] P. 50, l. 28. The three hosts.—Charles I was beheaded in 1649; Queen Christina of Sweden abdicated in 1654; Jean Casimir, King of Poland, was deposed in 1656.
[83] P. 50, l. 32. Macrobius.—A Latin writer of the fifth century. He was a Neo-Platonist in philosophy. One of his works is entitled Saturnalia.
[84] P. 51, l. 5. The great and the humble, etc.—See Montaigne, Essais, ii, 12.
[85] P. 53, l. 5. Miton.—A man of fashion in Paris known to Pascal.
[86] P. 53, l. 15. Deus absconditus.—Is. xiv, 15.
[87] P. 60, l. 26. Fascinatio nugacitatis.—Book of Wisdom iv, 12.
[88] P. 61, l. 10. Memoria hospitis, etc.—Book of Wisdom v, 15.
[89] P. 62, l. 5. Instability.—Compare Montaigne, Essais, iii, 12.
[90] P. 66, l. 19. Foolishness, stultitium.—I Cor. i, 18.
[91] P. 71, l. 5. To prove Divinity from the works of nature.—A traditional argument of the Stoics like Cicero and Seneca, and of rationalist theologians like Raymond Sebond, Charron, etc. It is the argument from Design in modern philosophy.
[92] P. 71, l. 27. Nemo novit, etc.—Matthew xi, 27. In the Vulgate, it is Neque patrem quis novit, etc. Pascal's biblical quotations are often incorrect. Many seem to have been made from memory.
[93] P. 71, l. 30. Those who seek God find Him.—Matthew vii, 7.
[94] P. 72, l. 3. Vere tu es Deus absconditus.—Is. xiv, 15.
[95] P. 72, l. 22. Ne evacuetur crux Christi.—I Cor. i, 17. In the Vulgate we haveut non instead of ne.
[96] P. 72, l. 25. The machine.—A Cartesian expression. Descartes considered animals as mere automata. According to Pascal, whatever does not proceed in us from reflective thought is a product of a necessary mechanism, which has its root in the body, and which is continued into the mind in imagination and the passions. It is therefore necessary for man so to alter, and adjust this mechanism, that it will always follow, and not obstruct, the good will.
[97] P. 73, l. 3. Justus ex fide vivit.—Romans i, 17.
[98] P. 73, l. 5. Fides ex auditu.—Romans x, 17.
[99] P. 73, l. 12. The creature.—What is purely natural in us.
[100] P. 74, l. 15. Inclina cor meum, Deus.—Ps. cxix, 36.
[101] P. 75, l. 11. Unus quisque sibi Deum fingit.—See Book of Wisdom xv, 6, 16.
[102] P. 76, l. 34. Eighth beatitude.—Matthew v, 10. It is to the fourth beatitude that the thought directly refers.
[103] P. 77, l. 6. One thousand and twenty-eight.—The number of the stars according to Ptolemy's catalogue.
[104] P. 77, l. 29. Saint Augustine.—Epist. cxx, 3.
[105] P. 78, l. 1. Nisi efficiamini sicut parvuli.—Matthew xviii, 3.
[106] P. 80, l. 20. Inclina cor meum, Deus, in....—Ps. cxix, 36.
[107] P. 80, l. 22. Its establishment.—The constitution of the Christian Church.
[108] P. 81, l. 20. The youths and maidens and children of the Church would prophesy.—Joel ii, 28.
[109] P. 83, l. 11. On what, etc.—See Montaigne, Essais, ii, 12.
[110] P. 84, l. 16. Nihil amplius ... est.—Ibid. Cicero, De Finibus, v, 21.
[111] P. 84, l. 17. Ex senatus ... exercentur.—Montaigne, Essais, iii, 1. Seneca, Letters, 95.
[112] P. 84, l. 18. Ut olim ... laboramus.—Montaigne, Essais, iii, 13. Tacitus, Ann., iii, 25.
[113] P. 84, l. 20. The interest of the sovereign.—The view of Thrasymachus in Plato's Republic, i, 338.
[114] P. 84, l. 21. Another, present custom.—The doctrine of the Cyrenaics. Montaigne, Essais, iii, 13.
[115] P. 84, l. 24. The mystical foundation of its authority.—Montaigne, Essais, iii, 13. See also ii, 12.
[116] P. 85, l. 2. The wisest of legislators.—Plato. See Republic, ii, 389, and v, 459.
[117] P. 85, l. 4. Cum veritatem, etc.—An inexact quotation from St. Augustine, De Civ. Dei, iv, 27. Montaigne, Essais, ii, 12.
[118] P. 85, l. 17. Veri juris.—Cicero, De Officiis, iii, 17. Montaigne, Essais, iii, I.
[119] P. 86, l. 9. When a strong man, etc.—Luke xi, 21.
[120] P. 86, l. 26. Because he who will, etc.—See Epictetus, Diss., iii, 12.
[121] P. 88, l. 19. Civil wars are the greatest of evils.—Montaigne, Essais, iii, 11.
[122] P. 89, l. 5. Montaigne.—Essais, i, 42.
[123] P. 91, l. 8. Savages laugh at an infant king.—An allusion to a visit of some savages to Europe. They were greatly astonished to see grown men obey the child king, Charles IX. Montaigne, Essais, i, 30.
[124] P. 92, l. 8. Man's true state.—See Montaigne, Essais, i, 54.
[125] P. 95, l. 3. Omnis ... vanitati.—Eccles. iii, 19.
[126] P. 95, l. 4. Liberabitur.—Romans viii, 20-21.
[127] P. 95, l. 4. Saint Thomas.—In his Commentary on the Epistle of St. James. James ii, 1.
[128] P. 96, l. 9. The account of the pike and frog of Liancourt.—The story is unknown. The Duc de Liancourt led a vicious life in youth, but was converted by his wife. He became one of the firmest supporters of Port-Royal.
[129] P. 97, l. 18. Philosophers.—The Stoics.
[130] P. 97, l. 24. Epictetus.—Diss., iv, 7.
[131] P. 97, l. 26. Those great spiritual efforts, etc.—On this, and the following fragment, see Montaigne, Essais, ii, 29.
[132] P. 98, l. 3. Epaminondas.—Praised by Montaigne, Essais, ii, 36. See also iii, 1.
[133] P. 98, l. 17. Plerumque gratæ principibus vices.—Horace, Odes, III, xxix, 13, cited by Montaigne, Essais, i, 42. Horace has divitibus instead of principibus.
[134] P. 99, l. 4. Man is neither angel nor brute, etc.—Montaigne, Essais, iii, 13.
[135] P. 99, l. 14. Ut sis contentus, etc.—A quotation from Seneca. See Montaigne, Essais, ii, 3.
[136] P. 99, l. 21. Sen. 588.—Seneca, Letter to Lucilius, xv. Montaigne, Essais, iii, I.
[137] P. 99, l. 23. Divin.—Cicero, De Divin., ii, 58.
[138] P. 99, l. 25. Cic.—Cicero, Tusc, ii, 2. The quotation is inaccurate. Montaigne, Essais, ii, 12.
[139] P. 99, l. 27. Senec.—Seneca, Epist., 106.
[140] P. 99, l. 28. Id maxime, etc.—Cicero, De Off., i, 31.
[141] P. 99, l. 29. Hos natura, etc.—Virgil, Georgics, ii, 20.
[142] P. 99, l. 30. Paucis opus, etc.—Seneca, Epist., 106.
[143] P. 100, l. 3. Mihi sic usus, etc.—Terence, Heaut., I, i, 28.
[144] P. 100, l. 4. Rarum est, etc.—Quintilian, x, 7.
[145] P. 100, l. 5. Tot circa, etc.—M. Seneca, Suasoriæ, i, 4.
[146] P. 100, l. 6. Cic.—Cicero, Acad., i, 45.
[147] P. 100, l. 7. Nec me pudet, etc.—Cicero, Tusc., i, 25.
[148] P. 100, l. 8. Melius non incipiet.—The rest of the quotation is quam desinet. Seneca, Epist., 72.
[149] P. 100, l. 25. They win battles.—Montaigne, in his Essais, ii, 12, relates that the Portuguese were compelled to raise the siege of Tamly on account of the number of flies.
[150] P. 100, l. 27. When it is said, etc.—By Descartes.
[151] P. 102, l. 20. Arcesilaus.—A follower of Pyrrho, the sceptic. He lived in the third century before Christ.
[152] P. 105, l. 20. Ecclesiastes.—Eccles. viii,
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