The noise of a cannon is not necessary to hinder its thoughts [=my thinking]; it needs only the creaking of a weathercock or a pulley. Do not wonder if at present it does not reason well; a fly is buzzing in its ears; that is enough to render it incapable of good judgment. If you wish it to be able to reach the truth, chase away that animal which holds its reason in check and disturbs that powerful intellect which rules towns and kingdoms.
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
1 comment:
This reads like some things I have written. Curious. I have never read Pascal, other than his Wager, as a footnote somewhere else. The language and metaphor was probably tuned to his time and audience. In any case, the rhetoric is lovely, subject notwithstanding.
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