Friday, August 16, 2019

Pascal's wager

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"Certainties of this kind are experimental [(expérimentales)].  But if we do not believe in them before experiencing them, if at least ...
Thursday, August 15, 2019

"The recognition of human wretchedness [(misère)] is difficult for whoever is rich and powerful because he is almost invincibly led to believe that he is something. It is equally difficult for the man in miserable circumstances [(au misérable)] because he is almost invincibly led to believe that the rich and powerful man is something."

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     Simone Weil, "Attention and will," in Gravity and grace, trans. Emma Craufurd (London:  Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1963 [1952...
Wednesday, August 14, 2019

". . . and then trust Christ. Because twelve people followed him and it changed the world. And so, all we need is twelve, and we’ve got more than that here tonight. Thank you very much."

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      Thomas Joseph White, O.P., "The need for Catholic intellectuals today," 7 February 2018, St. Saviour's Church, Dublin, f...
Tuesday, August 13, 2019

"The amount of creative genius in any period is strictly in proportion to the amount of [prayer] . . . at that period."

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"Extreme attention is what constitutes the creative faculty in man and the only extreme attention is religious.  The amount of creative...
Monday, August 12, 2019

"Attention signifies [both] a highly elevated act of knowledge and the most complete renunciation [(dénuement)] in the face of [its] object."

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Source "L’attention signifie un acte très élevé de connaissance et le dénuement le plus complete n face de l’objet."      Pau...
Sunday, August 11, 2019

"To destroy cities, either materially or morally, . . . this is to sever every bond of poetry and love between human beings and the universe. . . ."

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"Mais détruire des cités, soit matériellement, soit moralement, . . . c'est couper tout lien de poésie et d'amour entre des â...
Saturday, August 10, 2019

The times, they are unchanging

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robertdarnton.org/bio Robert "Darnton saw that the Enlightenment, viewed from the ground-level perspective of the S[ociété ]T[ypogr...