I've been trying to figure out how to write about Pascal's 'Pensees' (or Thoughts). Earlier in the year I took a quick peek and it looked like several one or two line affirmations, so I thought of them as being like proverbs. Once I actually got to the book I found out that many of them were more in depth, some several pages in length. (I'm not complaining about that. The longer ones were the richest in quality.) The best comparison for Pascal? He was something of a proto-blogger.
Seriously. It's easy to think of his various thoughts as stand alone blog posts. Some are short and pithy, while others are more in depth. There are extended themes and arguments. He clearly thought very hard about certain subjects for long stretches of time.
I could comment on each one, but there are nearly 80 of them in the suggested list* for the Great Books. That would mean more blog posts than I can reasonably promise. I could try and condense them by subject, but even that will mean a dozen or so to tackle and that probably won't happen either.
I'm afraid the best I can do is to concentrate on some of the most meaningful ones. That's unfortunate because there are plenty of nuggets of gold in the rest. He really was a remarkable writer.
*Here is that suggested list: 72, 82-83, 100, 128, 131, 139, 142-143, 171, 194-195, 219, 229, 233-234, 242, 277, 282, 289, 298, 303, 320, 323, 325, 330-331, 374, 385, 392, 395-397, 409, 412-413, 416, 418, 425, 430, 434-435, 463, 491, 525-531, 538, 543, 547, 553, 556, 564, 571, 586, 598, 607-610, 613, 619-620, 631, 640, 644, 673, 675, 684, 692-693, 737, 760, 768, 792-793.
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