Pascal's Pensées by Blaise Pascal
10. Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12.
619 words | Chapter 16
[36] P. 22, l. 8. _Felix qui_, etc.--Virgil, _Georgics_, ii, 489, quoted
by Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 10.
[37] P. 22, l. 10. _Nihil admirari_, etc.--Horace, _Epistles_, I. vi. 1.
Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 10.
[38] P. 22, l. 19. 394.--A reference to Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12.
[39] P. 22, l. 20. 395.--Ibid.
[40] P. 22, l. 22. 399.--Ibid.
[41] P. 22, l. 28. _Harum sententiarum._--Cicero, _Tusc._, i, 11,
Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12.
[42] P. 22, l. 39. _Felix qui_, etc.--See above, notes on p. 22, l. 8
and l. 10.
[43] P. 22, l. 40. 280 _kinds of sovereign good in
Montaigne._--_Essais_, ii, 12.
[44] P. 23, l. 1. _Part I_, 1, 2, _c_. 1, _section_ 4.--This reference
is to Pascal's _Traite du vide_.
[45] P. 23, l. 25. _How comes it_, etc.--Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 8.
[46] P. 23, l. 29. See Epictetus, _Diss._, iv, 6. He was a great Roman
Stoic in the time of Domitian.
[47] P. 24, l. 9. _It is natural_, etc.--Compare Montaigne, _Essais_, i,
4.
[48] P. 24, l. 12. _Imagination._--This fragment is suggestive of
Montaigne. See _Essais_, iii, 8.
[49] P. 25, l. 16. _If the greatest philosopher_, etc. See Raymond
Sebond's _Apologie_, from which Pascal has derived his
illustrations.
[50] P. 26, l. 1. _Furry cats._--Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 8.
[51] P. 26, l. 31. _Della opinione_, etc.--No work is known under this
name. It may refer to a treatise by Carlo Flori, which bears a
title like this. But its date (1690) is after Pascal's death
(1662), though there may have been earlier editions.
[52] P. 27, l. 12. _Source of error in diseases._--Montaigne, _Essais_,
ii, 12.
[53] P. 27, l. 27. _They rival each other_, etc.--Ibid.
[54] P. 28, l. 31. _Nae iste_, etc.--Terence, _Heaut._, IV, i, 8.
Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 1.
[55] P. 28, l. 15. _Quasi quidquam_, etc.--Plin., ii, 7. Montaigne,
ibid.
[56] P. 28, l. 29. _Quod crebro_, etc.--Cicero, _De Divin._, ii, 49.
[57] P. 29, l. 1. _Spongia solis._--The spots on the sun. Pascal sees in
them the beginning of the darkening of the sun, and thinks that
there will therefore come a day when there will be no sun.
[58] P. 29, l. 15. _Custom is a second nature_, etc.--Montaigne,
_Essais_, i, 22.
[59] P. 29, l. 19. _Omne animal._--See Genesis vii, 14.
[60] P. 30, l. 22. _Hence savages_, etc.--Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 22.
[61] P. 32, l. 3. _A great part of Europe_, etc.--An allusion to the
Reformation.
[62] P. 33, l. 13. _Alexander's chastity._--Pascal apparently has in
mind Alexander's treatment of Darius's wife and daughters after the
battle of Issus.
[63] P. 34, l. 17. _Lustravit lampade terras._--Part of Cicero's
translation of two lines from Homer, _Odyssey_, xviii, 136.
Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12.
_Tales sunt hominum mentes, quali pater ipse
Jupiter auctiferas lustravit lampade terras._
[64] P. 34, l. 32. _Nature gives_, etc.--Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 19.
[65] P. 37, l. 23. _Our nature consists_, etc.--Montaigne, _Essais_,
iii, 13.
[66] P. 38, l. 1. _Weariness._--Compare Montaigne, _Essais_, ii, 12.
[67] P. 38, l. 8. _Caesar was too old_, etc.--See Montaigne, _Essais_,
ii, 34.
[68] P. 38, l. 30. _A mere trifle_, etc.--Montaigne, _Essais_, iii, 4.
[69] P. 40, l. 21. _Advice given to Pyrrhus._--Ibid., i, 42.
[70] P. 41, l. 2. _They do not know_, etc.--Ibid., i, 19.
[71] P. 44, l. 14. _They are_, etc.--Compare Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 38.
[72] P. 46, l. 7. _Those who write_, etc.--A thought of Cicero in _Pro
Archia_, mentioned by Montaigne, _Essais_, i, 41.
[73] P. 47, l. 3. _Ferox gens._--Livy, xxxiv, 17. Montaigne, _Essais_,
i, 40.
[74] P. 47, l. 5. _Every opinion_, etc.--Montaigne, ibid.
[75] P. 47, l. 12. 184.--This is a reference to Montaigne, _Essais_, i,
Reading Tips
Use arrow keys to navigate
Press 'N' for next chapter
Press 'P' for previous chapter