“ In order to make man happy, it must prove to him that there is a God; that we ought to love Him; that our true happiness is to be in Him, and our sole evil to be separated from Him; it must recognise that we are full of darkness which hinders us from knowing and loving Him ”
Blaise Pascal, Pensées (1670). copy citation
Author | Blaise Pascal |
---|---|
Source | Pensées |
Topic | darkness happiness |
Date | 1670 |
Language | English |
Reference | |
Note | Translated by W. F. Trotter |
Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18269/18269-h/18269-h.htm |
Context
“man are so evident that the true religion must necessarily teach us both that there is in man some great source of greatness, and a great source of wretchedness. It must then give us a reason for these astonishing contradictions.
In order to make man happy, it must prove to him that there is a God; that we ought to love Him; that our true happiness is to be in Him, and our sole evil to be separated from Him; it must recognise that we are full of darkness which hinders us from knowing and loving Him; and that thus, as our duties compel us to love God, and our lusts turn us away from Him, we are full of unrighteousness. It must give us an explanation of our opposition to God and to our own good.”
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