Pensées

American  

[pahn-sayz, pahn-, pahn-say] / pɑnˈseɪz, pɑ̃-, pɑ̃ˈseɪ /

noun

1. a collection of notes, essays, etc., dealing with religious and philosophical matters by Blaise Pascal, published posthumously in 1670.

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Pensées Cultural  

1. A set of reflections on religion by Blaise Pascal (pensées is French for “thoughts”). This work contains the famous statement “The heart has its reasons that reason does not know.”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Pensées

The machine was included in Christie's auction of the library of the late Catalonia collector Léon Parcé, which also featured Pascal's philosophical piece Pensées and the first printed version of "Pascal's wager".

From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2025

This story was originally published on Pascal’s Pensées and has been republished here with permission.

From Slate ● Oct. 12, 2017

This book is as important in studying Chesterton as the Pensées would be for a student of Pascal.

From Gilbert Keith Chesterton by Maisie Ward

There is something very like this in the "Pensées" of Pascal.

From Three French Moralists and The Gallantry of France by Edmund Gosse

He mentions Bossuet's edition of the Pensées, speaks of "the prelate," and evidently ascribes to the famous Bishop of Meaux, who died in 1704, the edition of Pascal's Thoughts, published in 1779 by Bossuet.

From Notes and Queries, Number 48, September 28, 1850 by Various

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