"In Pascal's view, casuistry was the denial of true morality. It held out no vision of the ideals to which humans should aspire. It commanded no sacrifice, insisted on no heroic dedication. Not only did it trivialize the lofty precepts of the Gospel, it did not even hint at the "natural life of virtue" that had been espoused by Aristotle and Cicero. It was a mere farrago of excuses, loopholes, and evasions."