CHAPTER III. PASCAL IN THE WORLD.

“Man is born to think; he is never a moment without thinking.  But pure thought, which, if it could be sustained, would make him happy, fatigues and prostrates him.  He could not live a life of mere thought; movement and action are necessary to him.  He must be agitated by the passions, whose sources he feels deep and strong in his heart.  The passions most characteristic of man, and which embrace most others, are love and ambition.  They have no affinity, yet they are often united; together, they tend to weaken if not destroy each other.  For however grand the human spirit, it is only capable at once of one great passion.  When love and ambition meet, each therefore falls short of what it would otherwise be.  Age determines neither the beginning nor the end of these two passions.  They are born with the first years, they continue often to the last.” page 69“Man finds no full scope for love in himself, yet he loves.  It is necessary, therefore, for him to seek an object of love elsewhere.  This he can only find in beauty.  But as he himself is the most beautiful creature that God has made, he must find in himself the type of that beauty which he seeks elsewhere.  This defines and embodies itself in the difference of sex.  A woman is the highest form of beauty.  Endowed with mind, she is its living and marvellous personation.  If a beautiful woman wishes to please, she will always succeed.  The fascinations of beauty in such a case never fail to captivate, whatever man may do to resist them.  There is a spot in every heart which they reach.” “Love is of no age; it is always being born.  The poets tell us so, and hence we represent it as a child.  It creates intelligence, and feeds upon intelligence. . . .  We exhaust our power of gratifying it every day, and yet every day it is necessary to renew its gratification.” “Man in solitude is an incomplete being; he needs companionship for happiness.  He seeks this commonly in a like condition with his own, because habits of desire and opportunity in such a case are most readily found by him.  But *sometimes he fixes his affections on an object far beyond his rank*, and the flame burns the more intensely that he is forced to conceal it in his own bosom.  When we love one of elevated condition, ambition may at first coexist with affection.  But love soon becomes the master.  It is a tyrant which suffers no rival; it must reign alone.  Every other emotion must subserve and obey its dictates.  A high attachment fills the heart more completely than a common and equal one.  Small things are carried away in the great capacity of love.” “The pleasure of loving, without daring to say anything of one’s love, has its pains, but also its sweetnesses.  With what transport do we regulate all our actions with the view of pleasing one whom we infinitely value! . . .  The fulness of love sometimes languishes, receiving no succour from the beloved object.  Then we fall into misery; and hostile passions, lying in wait for the heart, tear it in a thousand pieces.  But anon a ray of hope—the very least it may be—raises us page 70as high as ever.  Sometimes this comes from mere dalliance, but sometimes also from an honest pity.  How happy such a moment when it comes!” “The first effect of love is to inspire a great respect.  We revere whom we really love.  This is right, and we know nothing in the world so grand as this. . . .  In love we forget fortune, parents, friends, and the reason of this is that we imagine we need nothing else than the object of our love.  The heart is full; there is no room for care nor disquietude.  Passion is then necessarily in excess; there is a plenitude in it which resists the commencement of reflection.  Yet love and reason are not to be opposed, and love has always reason with it, although it implies a precipitation of thought which carries us away without due examination.  Otherwise we should be very disagreeable machines.  Do not exclude reason from love, therefore; they are truly inseparable.  The poets are wrong in representing love as blind.  It is necessary to take away his veil, and give him henceforth the joy of sight.” “It is not merely the result of custom, but a dictate of nature, that man should make the first advances in love. . . .  Great souls require an inundation of passion to disturb and fill them; but when they begin to love, they love supremely. . . .  When we are away from the object of our love we resolve to do and say many things, but when we are present we hesitate.  The explanation is, that at a distance the reason is undisturbed, but in presence of the beloved object it is strangely moved.  In love we fear to hazard lest we lose all.  It is necessary to advance, yet who can tell to what point?  We tremble always till we reach this point, and yet prudence does not help us to keep it when we have found it. . . .  There is nothing so embarrassing as to be in love, and see something in our favour without daring to believe in it.  Hope and fear rage within us, and the last too often triumphs.”