“ Nothing is so insufferable to man as to be completely at rest, without passions, without business, without diversion, without study. ”
Blaise Pascal, Pensées (1670). copy citation
| Author | Blaise Pascal |
|---|---|
| Source | Pensées |
| Topic | passion rest business |
| Date | 1670 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by W. F. Trotter |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18269/18269-h/18269-h.htm |
Context
“129 Our nature consists in motion; complete rest is death.[ 65]
130 Restlessness.—If a soldier, or labourer, complain of the hardship of his lot, set him to do nothing.[ Pg 38]
131 Weariness.[ 66]—Nothing is so insufferable to man as to be completely at rest, without passions, without business, without diversion, without study. He then feels his nothingness, his forlornness, his insufficiency, his dependence, his weakness, his emptiness. There will immediately arise from the depth of his heart weariness, gloom, sadness, fretfulness, vexation, despair.” source
130 Restlessness.—If a soldier, or labourer, complain of the hardship of his lot, set him to do nothing.[ Pg 38]
131 Weariness.[ 66]—Nothing is so insufferable to man as to be completely at rest, without passions, without business, without diversion, without study. He then feels his nothingness, his forlornness, his insufficiency, his dependence, his weakness, his emptiness. There will immediately arise from the depth of his heart weariness, gloom, sadness, fretfulness, vexation, despair.” source
Meaning and analysis
