The Pensées (literally, "thoughts") represented an apology for the Christian religion by Blaise Pascal, the renowned 17th century philosopher and mathematician. Pascal's own religious conversion had led him into a life of asceticism, and the Pensées were in many ways his life's work. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion based on the life, teachings, death by crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as described in the New Testament. ... Blaise Pascal (June 19, 1623 – August 19, 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... A philosopher is a person devoted to studying and producing results in philosophy. ... A mathematician is a person whose area of study and research is mathematics. ... An ascetic is one who practices a renunciation of worldly pursuits to achieve spiritual attainment. ...

Although they appear to consist of ideas and jottings, some of which are incomplete, it is now believed that Pascal had, prior to his untimely death in 1662, already planned out the order of the book and had arranged the individual scraps of paper, on which the "thoughts" were written, accordingly. Those responsible for his effects, failing to recognise the basic structure of the work, handed them over to be edited, and they were published in 1669. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that scholars understood Pascal's intention, and present-day editions of the book contain his "thoughts" in more or less the order he left them. Events March 18 – Short-timed experiment of the first public buses holding 8 passengers begins in Paris May 3/May 2 - Catherine of Braganza marries Charles II of England – as part of the dowry, Portugal cedes Bombay and Tangier to England May 9 - Samuel Pepys witnessed a Punch and Judy... Events Samuel Pepys stopped writing his diary. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

The original layout of the individual notes was in fact recorded in situ, although this was not reflected until recently in editions of the work. The structure of the apology is best described by H.F. Stewart D.D. in the preface to his translation of the Pensees: Part I shows "from Nature" that man is wretched without God, Part II shows "from Scripture" that Jesus is the Redeemer of mankind. Part I subdivides into Ia (man without God) and Ib (man with God) to show man's inherent wretchedness. The themes of Part I are largely in the tone of vanitas mundi, after the tradition of Solomon's book of Ecclesiastes, while the many short maxims inserted into the text are reminiscent of Solomon's Book of Proverbs. Solomon or Shlomo (Hebrew: שְׁלֹמֹה; Standard Hebrew: Šəlomo; Tiberian Hebrew: Šəlōmōh, meaning peace) in the Tanakh (Old Testament), is the third king of Israel (including Judah), builder of the temple in Jerusalem, renowned for his great wisdom and wealth and power, but also blamed for falling away from worshipping the... Ecclesiastes, Kohelet in Hebrew, is a book of the Hebrew Bible, known to Jews as the Tanakh and to Christians as the Old Testament. ... The Book of Proverbs is a book of the Bibles Old Testament. ...

The best-known quotations from the Pensées include:

Le coeur a ses raisons, que la raison ne connait point.

("The heart has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing") Alternate uses: Reason (program), Reason (magazine), Reason (Asimov) In philosophy, reason (from Latin ratio, by way of French raison) is the faculty by means of which or the process through which human beings perform thought, especially abstract thought. ...

Le silence éternel de ces espaces infinis m'effraie.

("The eternal silence of these infinite spaces terrifies me.")

L'homme n'est qu'un roseau, le plus faible de la nature, mais c'est un roseau pensant.

("Man is only a reed, the weakest thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed.")