Talk:Blaise Pascal

From Wikiquote

I've used babelfish and some guesses to translate the following:

• Penser fait la grandeur de l'homme.
  • Translation: Thinking makes man great.

• Puisqu'on ne peut être universel en sachant tout ce qui se peut savoir sur tout, il faut savoir peu de tout.
  • Since one cannot be universal by knowing everything about everything, it is necessary to know a little about eveerything.

Anyone who actually knows french is welcome to look over these and fix up translation issues. ~ MosheZadka (Talk) 05:45, 2 October 2005 (UTC)

They seem almost nice, but if I recall correctly "tout ce qui se peut savoir sur tout" means literally "everything which can be known about everything"; so precisely "by knowing everything about everything, as far as one can know" supposedly. (My French is not so excellent, but philosopher likes such wording") --Aphaia 09:33, 2 October 2005 (UTC)

Looking through my copy of Pensées in French, I can not find the quote « Il n'est pas certain que tout soit certain. » The closest that I can find is part of a larger sentence, the il at the beginning being preceded by qu'; moreover, the quotation as written there is « Il n'est pas certain que tout soit incertain » -- that is, "It is not certain that everything is uncertain." If someone could provide a reference to the quote currently on the page, it would be helpful-- it is quite possible that I have missed it. However, if none is given soon, I will change it, and the accompanying English translation, to what I've found. --Doulos

All right, I found the Pensée whence the aforementioned quotation most likely comes. I just changed the word from « certain » to « incertain » -- I felt it unnecessary to add in the rest of the quote, as it keeps the same meaning. For anyone who is interested, though, this is the pensée in its entirety: « Il se peut faire qu'il y ait de vraies démonstrations ; mais cela n'est pas certain. Ainsi, cela ne montre autre chose, sinon qu'il n'est pas certain que tout soit incertain, à la gloire du pyrrhonisme. » --Doulos

I don't have access to Pensée No. 420, but found this quote in a book called Angels, Apes & Men by Stanley Jaki, can someone please check it is correct. Thanks Pluke 20:16, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

If he exalt himself, I humble him; if he humble himself, I exalt him; and I always contradict him, till he understands that he is an incomprehensible monster.

Pluke: that is indeed one of Pascal's quotations. In my edition, it is Pensée #326, but there are many differences between the many editions of Pensées. The original French of this quote is: « S'il se vante, je l'abaisse, S'il s'abaisse, je le vante ; Et le contredis toujours, Jusqu'à ce qu'il comprenne Qu'il est un monstre incompréhensible. » The English translation seems rather solid; a few things are changed slightly to make it more comfortable in English, but none of these take away the meaning. Perhaps it would be wise to insert "Man" in square brackets [ ] the first time the word "he" appears, since it is implied, referring to a previous Thought in which Pascal discussed the duplicity of man. Just a thought. It's also noteworthy that Pascal did write this divided into five lines. So, it would read something like this (with each number being the beginning of a new line): 1. "If [Man] exalt himself, I humble him, 2. If he humble himself, I exalt him; 3. And [I] always contradict him, 4. Until he understands 5. That he is an incomprehensible monster." Doulos

Thanks Doulos, I've added it Pluke 23:52, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Quote Expansion

I was looking for my favorite Blaise Pascal quote on here, and I only found half of it.

• The full quote as I know it: "The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of... We know the truth not only by the reason, but by the heart." - Blaise Pascal

• The part already here in Wikiquote has only the first part: "The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of."

I personally prefer the latter half of the quote, which is why I was surprised not to see it here. But anyways, the half of the quote already here is translated from French, whereas I don't have the full French version of the quote. (I got the English translation straight from my old 'History of Psychology' textbook.) Some other editors might have the full French version. Cougroyalty 18:31, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

Here is the original French:

Le cœur a ses raisons, que la raison ne connaît point. On le sent en mille choses. C'est le cœur qui sent Dieu, et non la raison. Voilà ce que c'est que la foi parfaite, Dieu sensible au cœur.

The Project Gutenberg translation is as follows:

"The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know. We feel it in a thousand things. It is the heart which experiences God, and not the reason. This, then, is faith: God felt by the heart, not by the reason."

Based on this, I will edit the Pascal page accordingly. - InvisibleSun 20:19, 17 March 2008 (UTC)