Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he
is a thinking reed. The entire universe need not arm itself
to crush him. A vapour, a drop of water suffices to kill him.
But, if the universe were to crush him, man would still be
more noble than that which killed him, because he knows
that he dies and the advantage which the universe has over
him ; the universe knows nothing of this.
All our dignity consists then in thought. By it we must
elevate ourselves, and not by space and time which we cannot fill. Let us endeavour then to think well ; this is the principle of morality.
A thinking reed.—It is not from space that I must seek my
dignity, but from the government of my thought. I shall
have no more if I possess worlds. By space the universe
encompasses and swallows me up like an atom; by thought
I comprehend the world.
Blaise Pascal
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