Coeur, Instinct, Principes

There are times when it is difficult to stomach some of Pascal's Pensees; and yet, he was a seeker, a sincere one. And for that reason alone I suppose I return to him, again and again. He was at his best when his writing exemplified this threefold motto: Heart, Instincts, Principles--contained in his "Critique de la Raison." Asserting that "C'est le coeur qui sent Dieu et non la raison. Voila ce que c'est que la foi: Dieu sensible au coeur, non a la raison" and, famously, "le coeur a ses raisons, que la raison ne connait point..." Pascal had said all that he needed to say ABOUT religion; but he simply could not check himself. He had to rail, to vilify, to reason most egregiously on behalf of this doctrine or that. But so it is with sectarians: the need to be right, rather than righteous.