Michel de Montaigne quotes
Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592): French author, philosopher, and statesman. The library holds 143 quotes by Michel de Montaigne, drawn from Book. The 60 below are the most quoted; search the library in the maker for the rest.
Often about: life, faith, knowledge, time, nature, truth
The best-known Michel de Montaigne quotes
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There never was in the world two opinions alike, no more than two hairs or two grains; the most universal quality is diversity.
Book ii, Chap. xxxvii. Of the Resemblance of Children to their Fathers -
Let us a little permit Nature to take her own way; she better understands her own affairs than we.
Book iii, Chap. xiii. Of Experience -
It happens as with cages: the birds without despair to get in, and those within despair of getting out.
Book iii, Chap. v. Upon some Verses of Virgil -
Every period of life has its peculiar prejudices. Whoever saw old age that did not applaud the past and condemn the present?
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There is no man so good, who, were he to submit all his thoughts and actions to the laws, would not deserve hanging ten times in his life.
Book iii, Chap. ix. Of Vanity -
I have never seen a greater monster or miracle in the world than myself.
Book iii, Chap. xi. Of Cripples -
A well-bred man is always sociable and complaisant.
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Presumption is our natural and original disease.
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Saying is one thing, doing another.
Book ii, Chap. xxxi. Of Anger -
Men are most apt to believe what they least understand.
Book iii, Chap. xi. Of Cripples Disputed attribution -
We are created to seek truth; to possess it is the prerogative of a higher power.
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Every one is well or ill at ease according as he finds himself.
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I speak truth, not so much as I would, but as much as I dare; and I dare a little the more as I grow older.
Book iii, Chap ii. Of Repentance -
We do not correct the man we hang; we correct others by him.
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The most unhappy and frail of all creatures is man, and yet he is the proudest.
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How many worthy men have we seen survive their own reputation!
Book ii, Chap. xvi. Of Glory -
The soul which has no fixed purpose in life is lost; to be everywhere is to be nowhere.
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He who has been once very foolish will never be very wise.
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Not because Socrates said so,… I look upon all men as my compatriots.
Book iii, Chap. ix. Of Vanity -
The Pythagoreans make good to be certain and finite, and evil infinite and uncertain. There are a thousand ways to miss the white; there is only one to hit it.
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Accustom him to everything, that he may not be a Sir Paris, a carpet-knight, but a sinewy, hardy, and vigorous young man.
Book i, Chap. xxv. Of the Education of Children -
Petty vexations may at times be petty, but still they are vexations. The smallest and most inconsiderable annoyances are the most piercing. As small letters weary the eye most, so also the smallest affairs disturb us most.
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I quote others only in order the better to express myself.
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Knowledge by rote is no knowledge, it is only a retention of what has been intrusted to the memory.
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A liar would be brave toward God, while he is a coward toward men; for a lie faces God, and shrinks from man.
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The diversity of physical arguments and opinions embraces all sorts of methods.
Book iii, Chap. xiii. Of Experience -
It is easier to write an indifferent poem than to understand a good one.
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I moreover affirm that our wisdom itself, and wisest consultations, for the most part commit themselves to the conduct of chance.
Book iii, Chap. viii. Of the Art of Conversation -
Man in sooth is a marvellous, vain, fickle, and unstable subject.
Book i, Chap. i. That Men by various Ways arrive at the same End -
When I play with my cat, who knows whether I do not make her more sport than she makes me?
Book ii, Chap. xii. Apology for Raimond Sebond -
Our energies are actually cramped by over-anxiety for success, and by straining our mental faculties beyond due bounds.
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Repentance is nothing else but a renunciation of our will, and a controlling of our fancies, which lead us which way they please.
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The question is not who is the most learned, but who is the best.
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Wit is a dangerous weapon, even to the possessor, if he knows not how to use it discreetly.
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There is, nevertheless, a certain respect and a general duty of humanity that ties us, not only to beasts that have life and sense, but even to trees and plants.
Book ii, Chap. xi. Of Cruelty -
The most certain sign of wisdom is a continual cheerfulness.
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I have ever loved to repose myself, whether sitting or lying, with my heels as high or higher than my head.
Book iii, Chap. xiii. Of Experience -
The only good histories are those that have been written by the persons themselves who commanded in the affairs whereof they write.
Book ii, Chap. x. Of Books -
It is not want, but rather abundance that creates avarice.
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We are never present with, but always beyond ourselves. Fear, desire, and hope are still pushing us on towards the future.
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He who should teach men to die would at the same time teach them to live.
Book i, Chap. xviii. That Men are not to judge of our Happiness till -
The land of matrimony possesses this peculiarity, that strangers to it would like to dwell in it, and the natural inhabitants wish to be exiled.
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The laws of conscience, which we pretend to be derived from nature, proceed from custom.
Book i, Chap. xxii. Of Custom -
I find that the best virtue I have has in it some tincture of vice.
Book ii, Chap. xx. That we taste nothing pure -
Lying is a disgraceful vice, “affording testimony,” as Plutarch says, “that one first despises God and then fears men.”
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There is more ado to interpret interpretations than to interpret the things, and more books upon books than upon all other subjects; we do nothing but comment upon one another.
Book iii, Chap. xiii. Of Experience -
Is it not a noble farce, wherein kings, republics, and emperors have for so many ages played their parts, and to which the whole vast universe serves for a theatre?
Book ii, Chap. xxxvi. Of the most Excellent Men -
A little folly is desirable in him that will not be guilty of stupidity.
Book iii, Chap. ix. Of Vanity -
Fortune, to show us her power in all things, and to abate our presumption, seeing she could not make fools wise, she has made them fortunate.
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To which we may add this other Aristotelian consideration, that he who confers a benefit on any one loves him better than he is beloved by him again.
Book ii, Chap. viii. Of the Affection of Fathers -
And to bring in a new word by the head and shoulders, they leave out the old one.
Book iii, Chap. v. Upon some Verses of Virgil -
The middle sort of historians (of which the most part are) spoil all; they will chew our meat for us.
Book ii, Chap. x. Of Books -
Old age contracts more wrinkles on the mind than the countenance.
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When all is summed up, a man never speaks of himself without loss; his accusations of himself are always believed, his praises never.
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Have you known how to compose your manners? You have done a great deal more than he who has composed books. Have you known how to take repose? You have done more than he who has taken cities and empires.
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Nature forms us for ourselves, not for others; to be, not to seem.
Book ii, Chap. xxxvii. Of the Resemblance of Children to their -
To know by rote is no knowledge; it is only to retain in the memory what is entrusted to it.
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The majority of the troubles in this world are the fault of the grammarians.
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All passions that suffer themselves to be relished and digested are but moderate.
Book i, Chap. ii. Of Sorrow -
We are born to inquire after truth; it belongs to a greater power to possess it. It is not, as Democritus said, hid in the bottom of the deeps, but rather elevated to an infinite height in the divine knowledge.
Book iii, Chap. viii. Of the Art of Conversation