Pensées (which means thoughts) is more a series of notes than an actual book. It was written by Blaise Pascal, a Frenchman, in the 1600's, and was published a short time after his death in 1662. Pascal intended to put the notes into a more readable form, but died before he was able to do so. The Pensées address a number of different points, one of the chief being the fallibility of humans and vastness of God's love for mankind. Another concept Pascal touches on is that of the "wager," which basically means that it is preferable to believe that there is a God regardless of whether there is or not, because it costs us nothing to believe. Of course Pascal does believe in God and exhorts us seek God so that we can be at peace with the thought of eternity. Pascal goes on to relate that because God sometimes seems hidden, humans must actively seek him.