Hunger, Emptiness of Soul, for God

"What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself. "

~ Blaise Pascal, Pensees [quoted from Mind on Fire, edited by James M. Houston, Bethany House Publishers, 1989, 1997, No #131, pg. 109]

[Note: This is often wrongly quoted as man having a “God-shaped vacuum." The original quote is much more eloquent.]