--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What sort of freak then is man! How…" description: "\"“What sort of freak then is man! How novel, how monstrous, how chaotic, how paradoxical, how prodigious! Judge of all things, feeble earthworm, reposit..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b4/blaise-pascal-167_humanity_what-sort-of-freak-then-is-man-how-novel_1880665.jpg" --- # What sort of freak then is man! How novel, how monstrous… ![“What sort of freak then is man! How novel, how monstrous, how chaotic, how paradoxical, how prodigious! Judge of all things, feeble earthworm, repository of truth, sink of doubt and error, glory and refuse of the universe!” quote by Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b4/blaise-pascal-167_humanity_what-sort-of-freak-then-is-man-how-novel_1880665.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b4/blaise-pascal-167_humanity_what-sort-of-freak-then-is-man-how-novel_1880665.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b4/blaise-pascal-167_humanity_what-sort-of-freak-then-is-man-how-novel_1880665.jpg) > ““What sort of freak then is man! How novel, how monstrous, how chaotic, how paradoxical, how prodigious! Judge of all things, feeble earthworm, repository of truth, sink of doubt and error, glory and refuse of the universe!”” [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humanity is a paradox of greatness and frailty, embodying both profound truth and error. **In simple terms:** Man is both magnificent and flawed. Key Takeaway Embrace humility and wonder at human complexity. Themes human nature paradox humility Mood thoughtful philosophical Type inspirational reflective When to use this quote - art - science - personal growth - ethical dilemmas Key Concepts existentialism contradiction dualism Questions to Reflect On - What does this paradox reveal about our aspirations? - How can we balance admiration and critique? A Different Perspective The view may overlook human capacity for consistent goodness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Freak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freak/) [Freak Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freak-man-2654281/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Humankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humankind/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Monstrous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monstrous/) [Monstrous Chaotic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monstrous-chaotic-2654282/) [Oddity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oddity/) [Strangeness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strangeness/) [Things Feeble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-feeble-1609490/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [The last advance of reason is to recognize that it is surpassed by innumerable things; it is feeble if it cannot realize that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/the-last-advance-of-reason-is-to-recognize-that-it-is-surpassed-by/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [“The world is strange and people keep making it stranger.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlon-james/the-world-is-strange-and-people-keep-making-it-stranger/) [Marlon James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlon-james/) > [“If all the eccentricities and all the strangenesses in this world suddenly disappear, people will fall asleep from the boredom! Every kind of oddities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/if-all-the-eccentricities-and-all-the-strangenesses-in-this-world/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I'm an oddity of one, my strangeness too complicated to explain or share.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/i-m-an-oddity-of-one-my-strangeness-too-complicated-to-explain-or/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [“When you make weirdness into a puzzle to be solved, you make LOST”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-fink/when-you-make-weirdness-into-a-puzzle-to-be-solved-you-make-lost/) [Joseph Fink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-fink/) > [“The enigma of stuttering is profound. For in a moment, you would sound very fluent, and at other times, you would struggle to utter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/the-enigma-of-stuttering-is-profound-for-in-a-moment-you-would-sound/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [“we are here confronted with an irreducible oddity about all human societies: all are strung around figments of the human imagination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-crone/we-are-here-confronted-with-an-irreducible-oddity-about-all-human/) [Patricia Crone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-crone/) > [“There was simply no peace to be had no matter where you hid yourself away. Even in a northern border town of such intensely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/there-was-simply-no-peace-to-be-had-no-matter-where-you-hid-yourself/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“he was an oddity of some magnitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-willeford/he-was-an-oddity-of-some-magnitude/) [Charles Willeford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-willeford/) > [“I don't know if there's a God. (And neither do you, and neither does Professor Dawkins, and neither does anybody. It isn't the kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-spufford/i-don-t-know-if-there-s-a-god-and-neither-do-you-and-neither-does/) [Francis Spufford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-spufford/) > [“Because of the unlimited potential packed within each person, attaining greatness should have been the norm, not an oddity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/assegid-habtewold/because-of-the-unlimited-potential-packed-within-each-person/) [Assegid Habtewold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/assegid-habtewold/) > [ “If \[she\] had come to prefer the company of odd ducks, it was possibly because they had no conception of oddity, or rather, they… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/if-she-had-come-to-prefer-the-company-of-odd-ducks-it-was-possibly/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [“Oddity, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. What one person rejects as lunacy, another reveres as truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-gulley/oddity-like-beauty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-what-one-person/) [Philip Gulley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-gulley/) > [“Everything in nature is beautiful in its place there will be an odd when you change its place.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamaran-ihsan-salih/everything-in-nature-is-beautiful-in-its-place-there-will-be-an-odd/) [Kamaran Ihsan Salih](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamaran-ihsan-salih/) > [“Now I know, you can’t change what’s happened to you or hide it, or spin it, or get over it. All you can do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-browning/now-i-know-you-can-t-change-what-s-happened-to-you-or-hide-it-or-spin/) [L.M. Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-browning/) ## More by Blaise Pascal > [“Do they think that they have given us great pleasure by telling us that they hold our soul to be no more than wind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/do-they-think-that-they-have-given-us-great-pleasure-by-telling-us/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [There should be in eloquence that which is pleasing and that which is real; but that which is pleasing should itself be real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/there-should-be-in-eloquence-that-which-is-pleasing-and-that-which-is/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The method of not erring is sought by all the world. The logicians profess to guide it, the geometricians alone attain it, and apart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/the-method-of-not-erring-is-sought-by-all-the-world-the-logicians/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [When we read too fast or too slowly, we understand nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/when-we-read-too-fast-or-too-slowly-we-understand-nothing/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Mahomet established a religion by putting his enemies to death; Jesus Christ by commanding his followers to lay down their lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/mahomet-established-a-religion-by-putting-his-enemies-to-death-jesus/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Reflect on death as in Jesus Christ, not as without Jesus Christ. Without Jesus Christ it is dreadful, it is alarming, it is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/reflect-on-death-as-in-jesus-christ-not-as-without-jesus-christ/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The Stoics say, "Retire within yourselves; it is there you will find your rest." And that is not true. Others say, "Go out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/the-stoics-say-retire-within-yourselves-it-is-there-you-will-find/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Happiness can be found neither in ourselves nor in external things, but in God and in ourselves as united to him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/happiness-can-be-found-neither-in-ourselves-nor-in-external-things/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Amusement that is excessive and followed only for its own sake, allures and deceives us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/amusement-that-is-excessive-and-followed-only-for-its-own-sake/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Rivers are highways that move on and bear us whither we wish to go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/rivers-are-highways-that-move-on-and-bear-us-whither-we-wish-to-go/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [We desire truth, and find within ourselves only uncertainty. We seek happiness, and find only misery and death. We cannot but desire truth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/we-desire-truth-and-find-within-ourselves-only-uncertainty-we-seek/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Vanity is illustrated in the cause and effect of love, as in the case of Cleopatra.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/vanity-is-illustrated-in-the-cause-and-effect-of-love-as-in-the-case/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [“There is no denying it; one must admit that there is something astonishing about Christianity. 'It is because you were born in it,' they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/there-is-no-denying-it-one-must-admit-that-there-is-something/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Imagination is the deceptive part in man, the mistress of error and falsehood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/imagination-is-the-deceptive-part-in-man-the-mistress-of-error-and/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The majority is the best way, because it is visible, and has strength to make itself obeyed. Yet it is the opinion of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/the-majority-is-the-best-way-because-it-is-visible-and-has-strength/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) [Explore all 988 Blaise Pascal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) ## More Freak quotes > [It was only when I went to acting school that I was like, "You are absolutely such a pigheaded freak show that you thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-matthey/it-was-only-when-i-went-to-acting-school-that-i-was-like-you-are/) [Giles Matthey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-matthey/) > [It was a little weird that they were friends. But then, maybe freaks just tended to find each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/it-was-a-little-weird-that-they-were-friends-but-then-maybe-freaks/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-perceive-now-that-these-things-are-all-impossible-except-in-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [There were days on that show where I had to go in and record a song, then I had to rehearse the dance for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-jenner/there-were-days-on-that-show-where-i-had-to-go-in-and-record-a-song/) [Blake Jenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-jenner/) > [Worst thing in the world? John is completely out of it. Good luck, ladies. He's a freak!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-moore/worst-thing-in-the-world-john-is-completely-out-of-it-good-luck/) [Mandy Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-moore/) > [A true freak cannot be made. A true freak must be born.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/a-true-freak-cannot-be-made-a-true-freak-must-be-born/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [There are times when born hollandaise heads, as well as nouveaux turbot freaks and recherche escargotphiles alike crave the saignet abundance of a New…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gael-greene/there-are-times-when-born-hollandaise-heads-as-well-as-nouveaux/) [Gael Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gael-greene/) > [I am not some sort of freak. I might be very good at chess but I'm just a normal person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/magnus-carlsen/i-am-not-some-sort-of-freak-i-might-be-very-good-at-chess-but-i-m/) [Magnus Carlsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/magnus-carlsen/) > [I really hate those Internet freaks who take each thirty minute bundle of joy and turn it into a cult game of Where's Wally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-baker/i-really-hate-those-internet-freaks-who-take-each-thirty-minute/) [Danny Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-baker/) > [People commonly travel the world over to see rivers and mountains, new stars, garish birds, freak fish, grotesque breeds of human; they fall into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/people-commonly-travel-the-world-over-to-see-rivers-and-mountains-new/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Jesus Christ would have been considered just another long-haired hippie freak if he hadn't been crucified. The folks weren't impressed with healing the sick,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-turner/jesus-christ-would-have-been-considered-just-another-long-haired/) [Ted Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-turner/) > [Sometimes, I even freak myself out!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimebag-darrell/sometimes-i-even-freak-myself-out/) [Dimebag Darrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimebag-darrell/) > [I am a control freak back seat driver; a map reading co-pilot who directs every turn of the wheel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-carr/i-am-a-control-freak-back-seat-driver-a-map-reading-co-pilot-who/) [Liz Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-carr/) > [If a book has a predictable storyline or familiar situations, there's little satisfaction for me in writing it. A woman deciding which man she'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-medoff/if-a-book-has-a-predictable-storyline-or-familiar-situations-there-s/) [Jillian Medoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-medoff/) > [Rabbits are played. Nowadays it's all about the turtles. Tell them it's a ninja, they'll freak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etgar-keret/rabbits-are-played-nowadays-it-s-all-about-the-turtles-tell-them-it-s/) [Etgar Keret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etgar-keret/) [Browse all 1,161 Freak quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freak/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“What sort of freak then is man! How novel, how monstrous, how chaotic, how paradoxical, how prodigious! 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