“When we are in love we seem to ourselves quite different from what we were before.”
- June 19, 1623 – August 19, 1662
- French
- Mathematician, Physicist, Inventor, Philosopher, Theologian
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Quote
“When we are in love we seem to ourselves quite different from what we were before.”
Explanation
Pascal captures the transformative effect of love on self-perception. Falling in love alters not just how we see the world, but how we see ourselves—it awakens new emotions, desires, and ideals that make us feel like an entirely different person. Love shifts our focus outward, intensifies our awareness, and often leads to a sense of heightened purpose, vulnerability, or even nobility. We are not merely feeling differently—we become someone else in our own eyes.
This insight fits within Pascal’s broader interest in the complexity of human emotion and self-awareness, as expressed in Pensées. He often observed that our sense of self is unstable, shaped by external influences such as passion, pride, or diversion. Love, in this context, is a powerful force that disrupts routine identity, for better or worse. It reminds us that we are not fixed beings, but capable of profound internal change.
In modern psychological terms, Pascal’s statement rings true: romantic love activates parts of the brain associated with reward, identity, and memory, creating a surge of emotional intensity that redefines how we think and feel. His quote invites us to reflect on how love, at its deepest, is not just an affection for another—it is an encounter with a new version of ourselves, awakened and reoriented by connection.
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