Justice and power must be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful, and whatever is powerful may be just.
Blaise PascalRead
Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Believing in something without proof can lead to great rewards, while skepticism bears little risk.
Blaise Pascal's quote emphasizes the idea of belief as a gamble; while faith in God cannot be empirically proven, the potential benefits of believing far outweigh the risks of disbelief. If one invests their faith in God and it is true, they gain everything, but if it is false, they lose nothing significant, thus encouraging individuals to take the leap of faith.
Themes
BeliefFaithWagerTruthPascal
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about resilience and faith.
More from Blaise Pascal
All quotes →If 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.
Blaise PascalRead
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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