Blaise Pascal, Pensées 418, 420:
Il est dangereux de trop faire voir à l’homme combien il est égal aux bêtes, sans lui montrer sa grandeur. Il est encore dangereux de lui trop faire voir sa grandeur sans sa bassesse. Il est encore plus dangereux de lui laisser ignorer l’un et l’autre. Mais il est très avantageux de lui représenter l’un et l’autre.
Il ne faut pas que l’homme croie qu’il est égal aux bêtes, ni aux
anges, ni qu’il ignore l’un et l’autre, mais qu’il sache l’un et l’autre.(420) S’il se vante, je l’abaisse; s’il s’abaisse, je le vante; et le contredis toujours, jusqu’à ce qu’il comprenne qu’il est un monstre incompréhensible.
Translation here:
It is dangerous to make man see too clearly his equality with the brutes without showing him his greatness. It is also dangerous to make him see his greatness too clearly, apart from his vileness. It is still more dangerous to leave him in ignorance of both. But it is very advantageous to show him both. Man must not think that he is on a level either with the brutes or with the angels, nor must he be ignorant of both sides of his nature; but he must know both.
(420) If he exalt himself, I humble him; if he humble himself, I exalt him; and I always contradict him, till he understands that he is an incomprehensible monster.
Etymologies 