“Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature; but he is a thinking reed.”

Blaise Pascal

Blaise Pascal - “Man is but a reed, the most feeble...” 1

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“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.”

Rebecca West
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“Pascal told only half the story. He said man was a thinking reed. What man is, is a thinking reed and a walking genital.”

Walker Percy
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“Man is only a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is a thinking reed. There is no need for the whole universe to take up arms to crush him: a vapour, a drop of water is enough to kill him. but even if the universe were to crush him, man would still be nobler than his slayer, because he knows that he is dying and the advantage the universe has over him. The universe knows none of this.”

Blaise Pascal
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“The human being is only a reed, the most feeble in nature; but this is a thinking reed. It isn't necessary for the entire universe to arm itself in order to crush him; a whiff of vapor, a taste of water, suffices to kill him. But when the universe crushes him, the human being becomes still more noble than that which kills him, because he knows that he is dying, and the advantage that the universe has over him. The universe, it does not have a clue."All our dignity consists, then, in thought. This is the basis on which we must raise ourselves, and not space and time, which we would not know how to fill. Let us make it our task, then, to think well: here is the principle of morality.”

Pascal
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“Reed: "What's up?"Vanessa: "There must be an accident or something."Reed: "I'm the accident."Vanessa: "I couldn't agree more."Reed: "What I meant was, those people out there are waiting for me.”

Jenny O'Connell
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