“I think therefore I am”, “you are not born a woman: you become one”, so many quotes we have all heard. But, it is sometimes difficult to remember its author. Test your knowledge in our slideshow below. More so, some quotes have strayed from their original context. This is the case of the famous quote from Pascal stating that “the heart has its reasons that reason does not know”.
If we all spontaneously think that Pascal was simply referring to the two instances of being: emotions and reason, it is quite another matter. Indeed, in his work of Thoughts, the philosopher addresses the question of religion and belief. In this sense, the author evokes the question of truth and the two ways to access it. We are therefore far from the use of this quote.
In reality, what Pascal calls the heart corresponds to our ability as humans to have knowledge intuitively. Conversely, reason corresponds to deduction and conclusion. Thus, the heart is considered by Pascal as the first instance of Man.
This thesis then allows the philosopher to deduce that religion and religious truths come from the heart. Thus, “the heart has its reasons that reason does not know” makes the heart prevail over reason. The heart would therefore be the best way to access God. This quote perfectly illustrates the drifts that can have, sometimes even suffer, the words of authors and philosophers. This is also the case with the idea of the will to power expounded by Nietzsche. After his death, his sister published posthumous fragments taken up in Nazi ideology. Yet the will to power theory has no connection with the Nazi interpretation.
Find out in our slideshow below if you are really unbeatable in quotes.
