100 Best Michel De Montaigne Quotes From The French Philosopher And Essayist
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Michel Eyquem De Montaigne came to be known as the most influential philosopher of the French Renaissance.
Montaigne's work 'Essays' was popularized essays as a form of literature. Essays was a self-portrait that is said to be one of the best recollections of such work.
Montaigne's attempt to examine the world thoroughly through his own life experiences and his own judgment is a huge feature of his work. Montaigne's character is portrayed as somewhat wise and intelligent, but not too arrogant in his works.
He took aspects of his daily life during the French renaissance and wrote about the injustice, poverty, and other aspects of life during this period.
Even today Montaigne's works are studied by a great number of scholars and by people from all around the earth. His honest self-assessment is appealing and convincing to people who find a guide and friend in him.
For more related content like Michel De Montaigne quotes, take a look at Baron de Montesquieu quotes and [St Vincent de Paul quotes].
Michel De Montaigne 'Essays' Quotes
Michel Eyquem De Montaigne quotes from his famous collection essays.
1. “We grasp at everything, but catch nothing except wind.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
2. “To forbid us anything is to make us have a mind for it.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
3. “If I am pressed to say why I loved him, I feel it can only be explained by replying: 'Because it was him; because it was me.'”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
4. “Notice what you eat, and you will find in it the taste of your own flesh.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
5. “I do not willingly alight when I am once on horseback, for it is the place where, whether well or sick, I find myself most at ease.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
6. “For seeing philosophy has not been able to find out any way to tranquillity that is good in common, let every one seek it in particular.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
7. “I know well what I am fleeing from but not what I am in search of.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
8. “The most fruitful and natural exercise for our minds is, in my opinion, conversation.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
9. “We are more unhappy to see people ahead of us than happy to see people behind us.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
10. “One may be humble out of pride.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
11. “Every other knowledge is harmful to him who does not have knowledge of goodness.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
12. “God's justice and His power are inseparable; 'tis in vain we invoke His power in an unjust cause.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
13. “Virtue refuses facility for her companion … the easy, gentle, and sloping path that guides the footsteps of a good natural disposition is not the path of true virtue. It demands a rough and thorny road.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
14. “When I play with my cat, who knows if I am not a pastime to her more than she is to me?”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
15. “Man is forming thousands of ridiculous relations between himself and God.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
16. “Great abuses in the world are begotten, or, to speak more boldly, all the abuses of the world are begotten, by our being taught to be afraid of professing our ignorance, and that we are bound to accept all things we are not able to refute.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
17. “Rejoice in the things that are present; all else is beyond thee.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
18. “A great marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
19. “There are no truths, only moments of clarity passing for answers.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
20. “How many things served us yesterday for articles of faith, which today are fables for us?”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
21. “Children's games are hardly games. Children are never more serious than when they play.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
22. “The soul has the greatest interest in all the rest, and there are some vices that have something, if a man may so say, of generous in them.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
23. “I feel myself importuned by an error of the soul that displeases me.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
24. “Great wits are ruined by their own proper force and quickness.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
25. “A soul clear from prejudice has a marvellous advance towards tranquility and repose.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
26. “There is no sense that has not a mighty dominion.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
27. “I could wish to have a more perfect knowledge of things, but I will not buy it so dear as it will cost.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
28. “Life in itself is neither good nor evil; it is the scene of good or evil, as you make it; and if you have lived a day, you have seen all.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
29. “I design everything by chance and in fear.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
30. “What shall be from this time forward, will be but a half-being, and no more me.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
31. “The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
32. “Let us give Nature a chance; she knows her business better than we do.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
33. “Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.”
― Michel de Montaigne, 'Essays'.
Wise Quotes By Michel De Montaigne
Michel De Montaigne quotes are as wise as they come! Here are some of the best Michel De Montaigne quotes on wisdom and knowledge.
34. “We are all convention; convention carries us away, and we neglect the substance of things.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
35. “Once conform, once do what others do because they do it, and a kind of lethargy steals over all the finer senses of the soul.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
36. “The most fruitful and natural exercise for our minds is, in my opinion, conversation.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
37. “There is no knowledge so hard to acquire as the knowledge of how to live this life well and naturally.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
38. “Each man calls barbarism what is not his own practice for indeed it seems we have no other test of truth and reason that the example and pattern of the opinions and customs of the country we live in.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
39. “Though we may be learned by the help of another’s knowledge, we can never be wise but by our own wisdom.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
40. “I quote others only in order the better to express myself.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
41. “He who establishes his argument by noise and command shows that his reason is weak.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
42. “Ambition sufficiently plagues her proselytes by keeping them always in show, like the statue of a public place.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
43. “There is no wish more natural than the wish to know.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
44. “It is good to rub and polish our brain against that of others.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
45. “We cannot be wise with other men's wisdom.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
46. “A wise man sees as much as he ought, not as much as he can.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
47. “Nothing is so firmly believed as what we least know.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
48. “It is the mind that maketh good or ill, That maketh wretch or happy, rich or poor.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
49. “The most manifest sign of wisdom is a continual cheerfulness.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
50. “Reason has so many forms that we do not know which to choose—Experiment has no fewer.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
51. “Malice sucks up the greatest part of its own venom, and poisons itself.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
52. “Learned we may be with another man's learning: we can only be wise with wisdom of our own.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
Michel De Montaigne Quotes About Humanity
Humanity is diverse according to these Michel De Montaigne quotes. Human condition is greatly explained in these Michel De Montaigne quotes!
53. “We find nothing more sweet in life than quiet repose and a profound sleep, without dreams.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
54. “I listen with attention to the judgment of all men.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
55. “Men are not agreed about any one thing, not even that heaven is over our heads.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
56. “A liar would be brave toward God, while he is a coward toward men; for a lie faces God, and shrinks from man.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
57. “A man may be humble through vainglory.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
58. “If I am to die and leave you alive, the gods alone only know whether it will go better with you or with me.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
59. “The man who thinks he knows something does not know yet what knowing is.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
60. “I am at home responsible for whatever goes amiss.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
61. “Since I would rather make of him an able man than a learned man, I would also urge that care be taken to choose a guide with a well-made rather than a well-filled head.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
62. “Man is certainly crazy. He could not make a mite, and he makes gods by the dozen.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
63. “He who fears he will suffer, already suffers from his fear.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
64. “Satiety comes of too frequent repetition; and he who will not give himself leisure to be thirsty can never find the true pleasure of drinking.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
65. “By the assistance of my conscience, which was not only at peace within itself, but elevated, and I did not find any reason to complain of myself.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
66. “I see men ordinarily more eager to discover a reason for things than to find out whether the things are so.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
67. “A wise man never loses anything, if he has himself.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
68. “The worst condition of humans is when they lose knowledge and control of themselves.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
Michel De Montaigne Quotes On Life
There are many great quotes about life as explained by Michel De Montaigne quotes. Such are the quotes by Montaigne on friendship and Montaigne on idleness of life.
69. “I write to keep from going mad from the contradictions I find among mankind.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
70. “Our great and glorious masterpiece is to live appropriately.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
71. “To lament that we shall not be alive a hundred years hence, is the same folly as to be sorry we were not alive a hundred years ago.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
72. “Live as long as you please, you will strike nothing off the time you will have to spend dead.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
73. “The great and glorious masterpiece of man is to live with purpose.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
74. “Marriage may be compared to a cage: the birds outside frantic to get in and those inside frantic to get out.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
75. “Our life is composed, like the harmony of the world, of contrary things.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
76. “There is nothing so extreme that is not allowed by the custom of some nation or other.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
77. “Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
78. “Lend yourself to others, but give yourself to yourself.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
79. “I cannot without grief see so much as an innocent beast pursued and killed that has no defence, and from which we have received no offence at all.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
80. “If ordinary people complain that I speak too much of myself, I complain that they do not even think of themselves.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
81. “There is no pleasure to me without communication.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
82. “Whether you find satisfaction in life depends not on your tale of years, but on your will.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
83. “When I the most strictly and religiously confess myself, I find that the best virtue I have has in it some tincture of vice.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
84. “I am content to have been destined to be present therein, and thereby to instruct myself.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
85. “The worst of my actions or conditions seem not so ugly unto me.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
86. “I find it both ugly and base not to dare to avouch for them.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
87. “ I have enough to do to comfort myself, without having to console others; thoughts enough in my head.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
88. “On the highest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own bottom.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
89. “Fashion is the science of appearances, and it inspires one with the desire to seem rather than to be.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
90. “I find that the best goodness I have has some tincture of vice.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
91. “No-one is exempt from speaking nonsense – the only misfortune is to do it solemnly.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
Michel De Montaigne On Death
Michel De Montaigne quotes on death and its impact on human nature.
92. “He who would teach men to die would teach them to live.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
93. “It is not without reason that we are taught to consider sleep as a resemblance of death.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
94. “I want death to find me planting my cabbages, but careless of death, and still more of my unfinished garden.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
95. “We trouble our life by thoughts about death, and our death by thoughts about life.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
96. “Death is terrible to Cicero, coveted by Cato, indifferent to Socrates.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
97. “To die of old age is a death rare, extraordinary, and singular.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
98. “Who thinks his death unworthy of him if he do not fall in some signal occasion, instead of illustrating his death willfully obscures his life.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
99. “We must go and throw away our true and essential life, and engage ourselves in a perpetual death!”
― Michel de Montaigne.
100. “'Tis the fear of death and of pain, impatience of disease, and a violent and indiscreet desire of a present cure, that so blind us.”
― Michel de Montaigne.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Michel de Montaigne quotes then why not take a look at Michel Foucault quotes, or Jean-Paul Sartre quotes.
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Bachelor of Arts specializing in English, Master of Arts specializing in English
Rajnandini RoychoudhuryBachelor of Arts specializing in English, Master of Arts specializing in English
With a Master of Arts in English, Rajnandini has pursued her passion for the arts and has become an experienced content writer. She has worked with companies such as Writer's Zone and has had her writing skills recognized by publications such as The Telegraph. Rajnandini is also trilingual and enjoys various hobbies such as music, movies, travel, philanthropy, writing her blog, and reading classic British literature.
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