Michel Eyquem de Montaigne is also known as Lord of Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance, known for popularizing the essay as a literary genre. His work is noted for its merging of casual anecdotes and autobiography with intellectual insight. His massive volume Essais contains some of the most influential essays ever written. These Michel de Montaigne quotes will motivate.
Best Michel de Montaigne Quotes
- “The truth of these days is not that which really is, but what every man persuades another man to believe.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Wise people are foolish if they cannot adapt to foolish people.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Lying is a terrible vice, it testifies that one despises God, but fears men.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
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“Sometimes it is a good choice not to choose at all.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “I know well what I am fleeing from but not what I am in search of.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “The pleasantest things in the world are pleasant thoughts, and the great art of life is to have as many of them as possible.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “My life has been full of terrible misfortunes most of which never happened.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “I quote others only in order the better to express myself.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “We must learn to endure what we cannot avoid. Our life is composed, like the harmony of the world, of contrary things, also of different tones, sweet and harsh, sharp and flat, soft and loud. If a musician liked only one kind, what would he have to say?” ~ Michel de Montaigne
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“Only the fools are certain and assured.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Other people do not see you at all, but guess at you by uncertain conjectures.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Men are most apt to believe what they least understand.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Happiness involves working toward meaningful goals.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “There is no conversation more boring than the one where everybody agrees.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
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“Every movement reveals us.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “To compose our character is our duty, not to compose books, and to win, not battles and provinces, but order and tranquility in our conduct. Our great and glorious masterpiece is to live appropriately. All other things, ruling, hoarding, building, are only little appendages and props, at most.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them… Whether you find satisfaction in life depends not on your tale of years, but on your will.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Lend yourself to others, but give yourself to yourself.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Every other knowledge is harmful to him who does not have knowledge of goodness.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “He who establishes his argument by noise and command shows that his reason is weak.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
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“I do not teach. I relate.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Rejoice in the things that are present; all else is beyond thee.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Marriage is like a cage; one sees the birds outside desperate to get in, and those inside equally desperate to get out.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Laws are often made by fools, and even more often by men who fail inequity because they hate equality: but always by men, vain authorities who can resolve nothing.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “A man is not hurt so much by what happens, as by his opinion of what happens.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Men are tormented by the opinions they have of things, and not the things themselves.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
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“All permanent decisions are made in a temporary state of mind.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Don’t discuss yourself, for you are bound to lose; if you belittle yourself, you are believed; if you praise yourself, you are disbelieved.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Socrates thought and so do I that the wisest theory about the gods is no theory at all.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Honesty is a question of right and wrong, not a matter of policy” ~ Michel de Montaigne , Michel de Montaigne quotes on honesty
- “Ignorance is the softest pillow on which a man can rest his head.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “The wise man lives as long as he ought, not so long as he can.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
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“A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “A man must keep a little back shop where he can be himself without reserve. In solitude alone can he know true freedom.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “As soon as women become ours we are no longer theirs.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “I would rather be old for a shorter time than be old before my time.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “We need to interpret interpretations more than to interpret things.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Experience has taught me this, that we undo ourselves by impatience. Misfortunes have their life and their limits, their sickness, and their health.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “I know that the arms of friendship are long enough to reach from the one end of the world to the other” ~ Michel de Montaigne
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“The only thing certain is nothing is certain.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “A wise man sees as much as he ought, not as much as he can.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “We are all of us richer than we think we are; but we are taught to borrow and to beg, and brought up more to make use of what is another’s than of our own.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “There is nothing of evil in life for him who rightly comprehends that death is no evil; to know how to die delivers us from all subjection and constraint.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “When I quote others I do so in order to express my own ideas more clearly.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Obstinacy and dogmatism are the surest signs of stupidity. Is there anything more confident, resolute, disdainful, grave and serious than an ass?” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “In nine lifetimes, you’ll never know as much about your cat as your cat knows about you.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
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“It is good to rub and polish our brain against that of others.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “The most certain sign of wisdom is cheerfulness.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “It is not necessity but abundance which produces greed.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “A strong imagination begetteth opportunity.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Confidence in the goodness of another is good proof of one’s own goodness.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “I neither complain of the past, nor do I fear the future.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Our great and glorious masterpiece is to live appropriately.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Not being able to govern events, I govern myself, and apply myself to them if they will not apply themselves to me.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “The plague of man is the opinion of knowledge. That is why ignorance is so recommended by our religion as a quality suitable to belief and obedience.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
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“When we have got it, we want something else.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “The conduct of our lives is the true mirror of our doctrine.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “Love is like playing the piano. First, you must learn to play by the rules, then you must forget the rules and play from your heart. If I were pressed to say why I loved him, I feel that my only reply could be: Because it was he, because it was I.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “It is in the enjoyment and not in mere possession that makes for happiness.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “It is the mind that maketh good or ill, That maketh wretch or happy, rich or poor.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “It is in vain that we get upon stilts, for once on them, it is still with our legs that we must walk. And on the highest throne in the world, we are still sitting on our own ass.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
- “It takes strong ears indeed to hear ourselves judged frankly, and because there are few who can endure criticism without being stung by it, those who venture to criticize us perform a remarkable act of friendship. For it is a healthy love that will risk wounding or offending in order to profer a benefit.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
