Throughout the first half of the semester, a major theme in every piece of writing we worked on was the natural behaviors and motivations of humans. Although Pascal chooses a more positive and religious perspective of human nature and Hobbes shows a more negative approach to human nature, both Pascal and Hobbes share similar beliefs about the misery of man, the importance of a single supreme or sovereign being, and the effects of be proud. In his diary, Pensees, Pascal argues that religion is necessary for human existence because it influences man's natural behaviors and motivations. He states that without Jesus we would never truly know ourselves (Pascal 7). He writes that “…man without God is totally ignorant and inevitably miserable” (22). In other words, we would never know what is good and evil without having God, because without God we are unaware and ultimately evil. Pascal writes that we can only learn from God; therefore, we can never truly understand who we are if we do not believe in God. Since Pascal says that man is miserable without God, he maintains that "the greatness of man lies in knowing himself to be miserable" (32). Knowing that we are born with both original sin and God's free will, we understand that we make mistakes and that we are not perfect, which proves that humans are inevitably great. Pascal writes for people to have faith and “recognize that there is an infinity of things beyond” (55). There are so many things out there for us as human beings and we need to realize that the world God created has so much to offer us, so we need faith to help us understand it. Ultimately, says Pascal, “the past and the present are our means… the hope of living… we always plan to be… in the middle of the paper… in terms of our society at large, human nature is more similar to Pascal's representation . I say this because I attended nineteen years of Catholic school; therefore, I have dealt with people who typically believe Pascal's thoughts. Overall, I think I live in a positive society, where, yes, men are not perfect, but knowing our flaws, makes us good. Even if someone is not religious, we have a president who is a single ruler with power, and ultimately, I think people understand that pride can get in the way. Ultimately, I think the best way to experience life is in the moment. Do not forget the past, but realize that what happened in the past cannot be changed; so, learn from this and move forward. On the other hand, don't be too hasty and don't look too far into the future, rather live in the moment and don't regret the decisions you've made.