“ For every man who thinks and lives by thought must have his own scepticism, that which stops at the question, that which ends in denial, or that which leads to faith and which is somehow integrated into the faith which transcends it. ”
Blaise Pascal, Pensées (1670). copy citation
| Author | Blaise Pascal |
|---|---|
| Source | Pensées |
| Topic | scepticism denial |
| Date | 1670 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by W. F. Trotter |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18269/18269-h/18269-h.htm |
Context
“But what makes Montaigne a very great figure is that he succeeded, God knows how—for Montaigne very likely did not know that he had done it—it is not the sort of thing that men can observe about themselves, for it is essentially bigger than the individual's consciousness—he succeeded in giving [Pg xv] expression to the scepticism of every human being. For every man who thinks and lives by thought must have his own scepticism, that which stops at the question, that which ends in denial, or that which leads to faith and which is somehow integrated into the faith which transcends it. And Pascal, as the type of one kind of religious believer, which is highly passionate and ardent, but passionate only through a powerful and regulated intellect, is in the first sections of his unfinished Apology for Christianity facing unflinchingly the demon of doubt which is inseparable from the spirit of belief.”
source
