1、 第第 48 卷卷 帕斯卡文集帕斯卡文集 百年哈佛 50 部经典 英文版 Harvard Classics 第 48 卷 帕斯卡文集 2/455 总目录总目录 第第 1 卷卷 富兰克林自传富兰克林自传 第第 2 卷卷 柏拉图对话录：辩解篇、菲多柏拉图对话录：辩解篇、菲多篇、克利多篇篇、克利多篇 第第 3 卷卷 培根论说文集及新阿特兰蒂斯培根论说文集及新阿特兰蒂斯 第第 4 卷卷 约翰米尔顿英文诗全集约翰米尔顿英文诗全集 第第 5 卷卷 爱默生文集爱默生文集 第第 6 卷卷 伯恩斯诗歌集伯恩斯诗歌集 第第 7 卷卷 圣奥古斯丁忏悔录圣奥古斯丁忏悔录 第第 8 卷卷 希腊戏剧希腊戏剧 第第 9 卷
2、卷 论友谊、论老年及书信集论友谊、论老年及书信集 第第 10 卷卷 国富论国富论 第第 11 卷卷 物种起源论物种起源论 第第 12 卷卷 普卢塔克比较列传普卢塔克比较列传 第第 13 卷卷 伊尼亚德伊尼亚德 第第 14 卷卷 唐吉坷德唐吉坷德 百年哈佛 50 部经典 英文版 Harvard Classics 第 48 卷 帕斯卡文集 3/455 第第 15 卷卷 天路历程天路历程 第第 16 卷卷 天方夜谭天方夜谭 第第 17 卷卷 民间传说与预言民间传说与预言 第第 18 卷卷 英国现代戏剧英国现代戏剧 第第 19 卷卷 浮士德浮士德 第第 20 卷卷 神曲神曲 第第 21 卷卷 许婚的爱
3、人许婚的爱人 第第 22 卷卷 奥德赛奥德赛 第第 23 卷卷 两年水手生涯两年水手生涯 第第 24 卷卷 伯克文集伯克文集 第第 25 卷卷 穆勒文集穆勒文集 第第 26 卷卷 欧洲大陆戏剧欧洲大陆戏剧 第第 27 卷卷 英国名家随笔英国名家随笔 第第 28 卷卷 英国与美国名家随笔英国与美国名家随笔 第第 29 卷卷 比格尔号上的旅行比格尔号上的旅行 第第 30 卷卷 科学论文集：物理学、化学、科学论文集：物理学、化学、天文学、地质学天文学、地质学 百年哈佛 50 部经典 英文版 Harvard Classics 第 48 卷 帕斯卡文集 4/455 第第 31 卷卷 切利尼自传切利尼自传
4、 第第 32 卷卷 文学和哲学名家随笔文学和哲学名家随笔 第第33卷卷 古代与现代著名航海与旅行记古代与现代著名航海与旅行记 第第 34 卷卷 法国和英国著名哲学家法国和英国著名哲学家 第第 35 卷卷 见闻与传奇见闻与传奇 第第 36 卷卷 君王论君王论 第第 37 卷卷 17、18 世纪英国著名哲学家世纪英国著名哲学家 第第 38 卷卷 物理学、医学、外科学和地质物理学、医学、外科学和地质学学 第第 39 卷卷 著名之前言和序言著名之前言和序言 第第 40 卷卷 英文诗集（卷）从乔叟到格英文诗集（卷）从乔叟到格雷雷 第第 41 卷卷 英文诗集（卷）从科林斯到英文诗集（卷）从科林斯到费兹杰拉
5、德费兹杰拉德 第第 42 卷卷 英文诗集（卷）从丁尼生到英文诗集（卷）从丁尼生到惠特曼惠特曼 第第 43 卷卷 10001904 第第 44 卷卷 圣书圣书(卷一卷一):孔子孔子 希伯来书希伯来书 基基百年哈佛 50 部经典 英文版 Harvard Classics 第 48 卷 帕斯卡文集 5/455 督圣经督圣经()第第 45 卷卷 圣书圣书(卷二卷二)基督圣经基督圣经()第第 46 卷卷 伊丽莎白时期戏剧（卷）伊丽莎白时期戏剧（卷）第第 47 卷卷 伊丽莎白时期戏剧（卷伊丽莎白时期戏剧（卷）第第 48 卷卷 帕斯卡文集帕斯卡文集 第第 49 卷卷 史诗与传说史诗与传说 第第 50 卷卷
6、哈佛经典讲座哈佛经典讲座 百年哈佛 50 部经典 英文版 Harvard Classics 第 48 卷 帕斯卡文集 6/455 第第 48 卷卷 帕斯卡文集帕斯卡文集 PASCALS THOUGHTS TRANSLATED BY W.F.TROTTERINTRODUCTORY NOTE BLAISE PASCAL was born at Clermont in Auvergne on June 19,1623,the son of the president of the Court of Aids of Clermont.He was a precocious child,and soon
7、 showed amazing mathematical talent.His early training was scientific rather than literary or theological,and scientific interests predominated during the first period of his activity.He corresponded with the most distinguished scholars of the time,and made important contributions to pure and applie
8、d mathematics and to physics.Meantime,an accident had brought the Pascal family into contact with Jansenist doctrine,and Blaise became an ardent convert.Jansenism,which took its name from Jansenius,the bishop of Ypres,had its headquarters in the Cistercian Abbey of Port-Royal,and was one of the most
9、 rigorous and lofty developments of post-Reformation Catholicism.In doctrine it somewhat resembled Calvinism in its insistence on Grace and Predestination at the expense of the freedom of the will,and in its cultivation of a thoroughgoing logical method of apologetics.In practise it represented an a
10、ustere and even ascetic morality,and it did much to raise the ethical and intellectual level of seventeenth century France.Jansenism was attacked as heretical,especially by the Jesuits;and the civil power ultimately took measures to crush the movement,disbanding the nuns of Port-Royal,and by its per
11、secutions affording to many of the Jansenists opportunities for the display of a heroic obstinacy.In this struggle Pascal took an important part by the publication,under the pseudonym of“Louis de Montalte,”of a series of eighteen letters,attacking the morality of the Jesuits and defending Jansenism
12、against the 百年哈佛 50 部经典 英文版 Harvard Classics 第 48 卷 帕斯卡文集 7/455 charge of heresy.In spite of the fact that the party for which he fought was defeated,in these“Provincial Letters,”as they are usually called,Pascal inflicted a blow on the Society of Jesus from which that order has never entirely recov
13、ered.Pascal now formed the plan of writing an“Apology for the Christian Religion,”and during the rest of his life he was collecting materials and making notes for this work.But he had long been feeble in health;in the ardor of his religious devotion he had undergone incredible hardships;and on Augus
14、t 19,1662,he died in his fortieth year.It was from the notes for his contemplated“Apology”that the Port-Royalists compiled and edited the book known as his“Penses”or“Thoughts.”The early texts were much tampered with,and the material has been frequently rearranged;but now at last it is possible to re
15、ad these fragmentary jottings as they came from the hand of their author.In spite of their incompleteness and frequent incoherence,the“Thoughts”have long held a high place among the great religious classics.Much of the theological argument implied in these utterances has little appeal to the modern
16、mind,but the acuteness of the observation of human life,the subtlety of the reasoning,the combination of precision and fervid imagination in the expression,make this a book to which the discerning mind can return again and again for insight and inspiration.SECTION I THOUGHTS ON MIND AND ON STYLE 1 T
17、HE difference between the mathematical and the intuitive mind.In the one the principles are palpable,but removed from ordinary use;so that for want of habit it is difficult to turn ones mind in that direction:but if one turns it thither ever so little,one sees the principles fully,and one must have
18、a quite inaccurate mind who reasons wrongly from principles so plain that it is almost impossible they should escape notice.But in the intuitive mind the principles are found in common use,and 百年哈佛 50 部经典 英文版 Harvard Classics 第 48 卷 帕斯卡文集 8/455 are before the eyes of everybody.One has only to look,a
19、nd no effort is necessary;it is only a question of good eyesight,but it must be good,for the principles are so subtle and so numerous,that it is almost impossible but that some escape notice.Now the omission of one principle leads to error;thus one must have very clear sight to see all the principle
20、s,and in the next place an accurate mind not to draw false deductions from known principles.All mathematicians would then be intuitive if they had clear sight,for they do not reason incorrectly from principles known to them;and intuitive minds would be mathematical if they could turn their eyes to t
21、he principles of mathematics to which they are unused.The reason,therefore,that some intuitive minds are not mathematical is that they cannot at all turn their attention to the principles of mathematics.But the reason that mathematicians are not intuitive is that they do not see what is before them,
22、and that,accustomed to the exact and plain principles of mathematics,and not reasoning till they have well inspected and arranged their principles,they are lost in matters of intuition where the principles do not allow of such arrangement.They are scarcely seen;they are felt rather than seen;there i
23、s the greatest difficulty in making them felt by those who do not of themselves perceive them.These principles are so fine and so numerous that a very delicate and very clear sense is needed to perceive them,and to judge rightly and justly when they are perceived,without for the most part being able
24、 to demonstrate them in order as in mathematics;because the principles are not known to us in the same way,and because it would be an endless matter to undertake it.We must see the matter at once,at one glance,and not by a process of reasoning,at least to a certain degree.And thus it is rare that ma
25、thematicians are intuitive,and that men of intuition are mathematicians,because mathematicians wish to treat matters of intuition mathematically,and make themselves ridiculous,百年哈佛 50 部经典 英文版 Harvard Classics 第 48 卷 帕斯卡文集 9/455 wishing to begin with definitions and then with axioms,which is not the
26、way to proceed in this kind of reasoning.Not that the mind does not do so,but it does it tacitly,naturally,and without technical rules;for the expression of it is beyond all men,and only a few can feel it.Intuitive minds,on the contrary,being thus accustomed to judge at a single glance,are so astoni
27、shed when they are presented with propositions of which they understand nothing,and the way to which is through definitions and axioms so sterile,and which they are not accustomed to see thus in detail,that they are repelled and disheartened.But dull minds are never either intuitive or mathematical.
28、Mathematicians who are only mathematicians have exact minds,provided all things are explained to them by means of definitions and axioms;otherwise they are inaccurate and insufferable,for they are only right when the principles are quite clear.And men of intuition who are only intuitive cannot have
29、the patience to reach to first principles of things speculative and conceptual,which they have never seen in the world,and which are altogether out of the common.2 There are different kinds of right understanding;some have right understanding in a certain order of things,and not in others,where they
30、 go astray.Some draw conclusions well from a few premises,and this displays an acute judgment.Others draw conclusions well where there are many premises.For example,the former easily learn hydrostatics,where the premises are few,but the conclusions are so fine that only the greatest acuteness can re
31、ach them.And in spite of that these persons would perhaps not be great mathematicians,because mathematics contain a great number of premises,and there is perhaps a kind of intellect that can search with ease 百年哈佛 50 部经典 英文版 Harvard Classics 第 48 卷 帕斯卡文集 10/455 a few premises to the bottom:and cannot
32、 in the least penetrate those matters in which there are many premises.There are then two kinds of intellect:the one able to penetrate acutely and deeply into the conclusions of given premises,and this is the precise intellect;the other able to comprehend a great number of premises without confusing
33、 them,and this is the mathematical intellect.The one has force and exactness,the other comprehension.Now the one quality can exist without the other;the intellect can be strong and narrow,and can also be comprehensive and weak.3 Those who are accustomed to judge by feeling do not understand the proc
34、ess of reasoning,for they would understand at first sight,and are not used to seek for principles.And others,on the contrary,who are accustomed to reason from principles,do not at all understand matters of feeling,seeking principles,and being unable to see at a glance.4 Mathematics,Intuition.True el
35、oquence makes light of eloquence,true morality makes light of morality;that is to say,the morality of the judgment,which has no rules,makes light of the morality of the intellect.For it is to judgment that perception belongs,as science belongs to intellect.Intuition is the part of judgment,mathemati
36、cs of intellect.To make light of philosophy is to be a true philosopher.5 Those who judge of a work by rule are in regard to others as those who have a watch are in regard to others.One says,“It is two hours ago;”the other says,“It is only three-quarters of an hour.”I look at my watch,and say to the
37、 one,“You are weary,”and to the other,“Time gallops with you;”for it is only an hour and a half ago,and I laugh at those who tell me that time goes slowly with me,and that I judge by imagination.They do not know that I judge by my watch.百年哈佛 50 部经典 英文版 Harvard Classics 第 48 卷 帕斯卡文集 11/455 6 Just as
38、we harm the understanding,we harm the feelings also.The understanding and the feelings are moulded by intercourse;the understanding and feelings are corrupted by intercourse.Thus good or bad society improves or corrupts them.It is,then,all-important to know how to choose in order to improve and not
39、to corrupt them;and we cannot make this choice,if they be not already improved and not corrupted.Thus a circle is formed,and those are fortunate who escape it.7 The greater intellect one has,the more originality one finds in men.Ordinary persons find no difference between men.8 There are many people
40、 who listen to a sermon in the same way as they listen to vespers.9 When we wish to correct with advantage,and to show another that he errs,we must notice from what side he views the matter,for on that side it is usually true,and admit that truth to him,but reveal to him the side on which it is fals
41、e.He is satisfied with that,for he sees that he was not mistaken,and that he only failed to see all sides.Now,no one is offended at not seeing everything;but one does not like to be mistaken,and that perhaps arises from the fact that man naturally cannot see everything,and that naturally he cannot e
42、rr in the side he looks at,since the perceptions of our senses are always true.10 People are generally better persuaded by the reasons which they have themselves discovered than by those which have come into the mind of others.11 All great amusements are dangerous to the Christian life;but among 百年哈
43、佛 50 部经典 英文版 Harvard Classics 第 48 卷 帕斯卡文集 12/455 all those which the world has invented there is none more to be feared than the theatre.It is a representation of the passions so natural and so delicate that it excites them and gives birth to them in our hearts,and,above all,to that of love,princip
44、ally when it is represented as very chaste and virtuous.For the more innocent it appears to innocent souls,the more they are likely to be touched by it.Its violence pleases our self-love,which immediately forms a desire to produce the same effects which are seen so well represented;and,at the same t
45、ime,we make ourselves a conscience founded on the propriety of the feelings which we see there,by which the fear of pure souls is removed,since they imagine that it cannot hurt their purity to love with a love which seems to them so reasonable.So we depart from the theatre with our hearts so filled
46、with all the beauty and tenderness of love,the soul and the mind so persuaded of its innocence,that we are quite ready to receive its first impressions,or rather to seek an opportunity of awakening them in the heart of another,in order that we may receive the same pleasures and the same sacrifices w
47、hich we have seen so well represented in the theatre.12 Scaramouch,注 1who only thinks of one thing.The doctor,注 2who speaks for a quarter of an hour after he has said everything,so full is he of the desire of talking.13 One likes to see the error,the passion of Cleobuline,注 3because she is unconscio
48、us of it.She would be displeasing,if she were not deceived.14 When a natural discourse paints a passion or an effect,one feels within oneself the truth of what one reads,which was there before,although one did not know it.Hence one is inclined to love him who makes us feel it,for he has not shown us
49、 his own riches,but ours.And thus this benefit renders him pleasing to us,besides that such community of 百年哈佛 50 部经典 英文版 Harvard Classics 第 48 卷 帕斯卡文集 13/455 intellect as we have with him necessarily inclines the heart to love.15 Eloquence,which persuades by sweetness,not by authority;as a tyrant,no
50、t as a king.16 Eloquence is an art of saying things in such a way(1)that those to whom we speak may listen to them without pain and with pleasure;(2)that they feel themselves interested,so that self-love leads them more willingly to reflection upon it.It consists,then,in a correspondence which we se
