Q0242
“The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me.” — Blaise Pascal (Pensées §72)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: Pensées §72. Theme: nature.
English
The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to Pensées §72 and files it under Christian Existential Precursor. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
About Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, and Christian apologist who invented an early calculator and advanced probability and fluid mechanics. After a decisive religious conversion, he defended Jansenism in the Provincial Letters and left unfinished Pensées.
Interpretation
Pascal's fear is not of the void's size but of its silence — that the universe does not answer. What frightens him is the absence of a response, which is a religious fear rather than a cosmological one. The Pensées use this as the starting point for the argument that follows, since he thinks the usual remedies — diversion, indifference — avoid rather than address it. The sentence is the most quoted line in a book largely about strategies of avoidance.
Why it matters
It names a specific dread that size alone does not explain: the worry is not that we are small, but that nothing is listening.
Concepts in this quote
- Nature
- Philosophy quotes about nature ask what the cosmos is, how humans belong in it, and whether “natural” can guide ethics or politics.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Blaise Pascal. (n.d.). The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0242
MLA: Blaise Pascal. “The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0242.
Chicago: Blaise Pascal. “The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0242.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens…”?
The passage is attributed to Blaise Pascal, Pensées §72. The archive attributes this English wording to Pensées §72 and files it under Christian Existential Precursor. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
What does Blaise Pascal mean by nature?
Nature may mean physical cosmos, living world, human nature, or a normative standard of what ought to be. Presocratics, Daoists, Stoics, and modern environmental thinkers share the word while disagreeing about its force. This passage enters that discussion through nature.