All men’s miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.
– Blaise Pascal
Seems like a very good quote for a Sunday. I was a French lit major and read Pascal’s Pensées, in French, during my undergrad. I loved the collection by the French philosopher back then and I still have the original paperback with all my notes scrawled in French on its pages. I was reminded of Pascal in one of my classes this week when we were discussing a very challenging reading by French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu. He wrote a couple of books that aren’t quite as challenging apparently, one of them is called Pascalian Meditations, which I plan to read. But first, I think I’ll revisit Pascal. I’ve pulled it off my shelf and am now going to sit quietly in my room.