Full Idea
We usually only want to know something so that we can talk about it.
Gist of Idea
We only want to know things so that we can talk about them
Source
Blaise Pascal (Pensées [1662], 77 (152))
Book Reference
Pascal,Blaise: 'Pensées', ed/tr. Krailsheimer,A.J. [Penguin 1966], p.50
A Reaction
This may be right, but I wouldn't underestimate it as a worthy end (though Pascal, as usual, calls it 'vanity'). Good talk might even be the highest human good (how many people like, more than anything, chatting in pubs?), and good talk is knowledgeable.