Pensées

American  

[pahn-seyz, pahn-, pahn-sey] / pɑnˈseɪz, pɑ̃-, pɑ̃ˈseɪ /

noun

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

---

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.”

---

Example Sentences

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

The facts of Pascal's life, so far as they are necessary for this brief introduction to the Pensées, are as follows.

From Pascal's Pensées by Pascal, Blaise

This section of the Pensées is directed chiefly against them.

From Pascal's Pensées by Pascal, Blaise

In 1829 M. Sainte-Beuve published a volume of poetry, Poésies de Joseph Delorme, followed, in 1830, by another, entitled Consolations, and some years later by a third, Pensées d'Août.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 17, No. 102, April, 1866 by Various