Page:Blaise Pascal works.djvu/132



Rarum est enim ut satis se quisque vereatur.

Tot circa unum caput tumultuantes deos.

Nihil turpius quam cognitioni assertionem præcurrere. Cic.

Nec me pudet, ut istos, fateri nescire quid nesciam.

Melius non incipient.

Thought.&mdash;All the dignity of man consists in thought. Thought is therefore by its nature a wonderful and incomparable thing. It must have strange defects to be contemptible. But it has such, so that nothing is more ridiculous. How great it is in its nature! How vile it is in its defects!

But what is this thought? How foolish it is!

The mind of this sovereign judge of the world is not so independent that it is not liable to be disturbed by the first din about it. The noise of a cannon is not necessary to hinder its thoughts; it needs only the creaking of a weathercock or a pulley. Do not wonder if at present it does not reason well; a fly is buzzing in its ears; that is enough to render it incapable of good judgment. If you wish it to be able to reach the truth, chase away that animal which holds its reason in check and disturbs that powerful intellect which rules towns and kingdoms. Here is a comical god! O ridicolosissimo eroe!

The power of flies; they win battles, hinder our soul from acting, eat our body.