Michel de Montaigne Quotes

Man is certainly crazy. He could not make a mite, and he makes gods by the dozen.

Lend yourself to others, but give yourself to yourself.

The most fruitful and natural exercise for our minds is, in my opinion, conversation.

If there is such a thing as a good marriage, it is because it resembles friendship rather than love.

I speak the truth not so much as I would, but as much as I dare, and I dare a little more as I grow older.

The greater part of the world's troubles are due to questions of grammar.

Confidence in others' honesty is no light testimony of one's own integrity.

My life has been full of terrible misfortunes most of which never happened.

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.

He who establishes his argument by noise and command shows that his reason is weak.

Every man bears the whole stamp of the human condition.

There is no conversation more boring than the one where everybody agrees.

Ignorance is the softest pillow on which a man can rest his head.

A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears.

Stubborn and ardent clinging to one's opinion is the best proof of stupidity.

No wind favors he who has no destined port.

I have never seen a greater monster or miracle in the world than myself.

No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.

Not being able to govern events, I govern myself.

There is as much difference between us and ourselves as there is between us and others.

I listen with attention to the judgment of all men;but so far as I can remember,I have followed none but my own.

A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband.

The thing I fear most is fear.

Don't discuss yourself, for you are bound to lose; if you belittle yourself, you are believed; if you praise yourself, you are disbelieved.

So it is with minds. Unless you keep them busy with some definite subject that will bridle and control them, they throw themselves in disorder hither and yon in the vague field of imagination... And there is no mad or idle fancy that they do not bring forth in the agitation.

Valor is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and the soul.

The finest souls are those that have the most variety and suppleness.

Age imprints more wrinkles in the mind than it does on the face.

The soul which has no fixed purpose in life is lost; to be everywhere, is to be nowhere.

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.

The most profound joy has more of gravity than of gaiety in it.

How many things we held yesterday as articles of faith which today we tell as fables.

It is only certain that there is nothing certain, and that nothing is more miserable or more proud than man.

No wind serves him who addresses his voyage to no certain port.

The beautiful souls are they that are universal, open, and ready for all things.

Rejoice in the things that are present; all else is beyond thee.

Whoever will be cured of ignorance, let him confess it.

Marriage is like a cage; one sees the birds outside desperate to get in, and those inside equally desperate to get out.

Wise men have more to learn of fools than fools of wise men.

Those who have compared our life to a dream were right... we were sleeping wake, and waking sleep.

We only labor to stuff the memory, and leave the conscience and the understanding unfurnished and void.

It should be noted that children at play are not playing about; their games should be seen as their most serious-minded activity.

It is the mind that maketh good or ill, That maketh wretch or happy, rich or poor.

If you don't know how to die, don't worry; Nature will tell you what to do on the spot, fully and adequately. She will do this job perfectly for you; don't bother your head about it.

Experience has taught me this, that we undo ourselves by impatience. Misfortunes have their life and their limits, their sickness and their health.

When I play with my cat, who knows whether she is not amusing herself with me more than I with her.

The ceaseless labour of your life is to build the house of death.

A wise man sees as much as he ought, not as much as he can.

There is no passion so contagious as that of fear.

The confidence in another man's virtue is no light evidence of a man's own, and God willingly favors such a confidence.

There is no passion so much transports the sincerity of judgment as doth anger

I will follow the right side even to the fire, but excluding the fire if I can.

No-one is exempt from speaking nonsense "“ the only misfortune is to do it solemnly.

One may be humble out of pride.

No man is so exquisitely honest or upright in living, but that ten times in his life he might not lawfully be hanged.

A wise man never loses anything, if he has himself.

Let us permit nature to have her way. She understands her business better than we do.

We are, I know not how, double in ourselves, so that what we believe we disbelieve, and cannot rid ourselves of what we condemn .

Ambition is not a vice of little people.

The great and glorious masterpiece of humanity is to know how to live with a purpose.

There are some defeats more triumphant than victories.

Even on the highest throne in the world, we are still sitting on our ass.

Experience teaches that a strong memory is generally joined to a weak judgment.

Desire and hope will push us on toward the future.

The word is half his that speaks, and half his that hears it.

There never were, in the world, two opinions alike, no more than two hairs, or two grains; the most universal quality is diversity.

Fame and tranquility can never be bedfellows.

We are all of us richer than we think we are.

All the fame you should look for in life is to have lived it quietly.

Confidence in the goodness of another is good proof of one's own goodness.

When all is summed up, a man never speaks of himself without loss; his accusations of himself are always believed; his praises never.

There is no course of life so weak and sottish as that which is managed by order, method, and discipline

Since we cannot match it let us take our revenge by abusing it.

Those that will combat use and custom by the strict rules of grammar do but jest

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.

Wonder is the foundation of all philosophy, inquiry the progress, ignorance the end.

There are few men who dare to publish to the world the prayers they make to Almighty God.

It is good to rub and polish our brain against that of others.

Of all our infirmities, the most savage is to despise our being.

Necessity reconciles and brings men together; and this accidental connection afterward forms itself into laws.

I care not so much what I am to others as what I am to myself. I will be rich by myself, and not by borrowing.

It's not victory if it doesn't end the war.

We can be knowledgeable with other men's knowledge, but we cannot be wise with other men's wisdom.

It is easier to write an indifferent poem than to understand a good one.

The public weal requires that men should betray, and lie, and massacre.

It is commonly seen by experience that excellent memories do often accompany weak judgements.

In the education of children there is nothing like alluring the interest and affection; otherwise you only make so many asses laden with books.

I consider myself an average man, except in the fact that I consider myself an average man.

He who is not sure of his memory, should not undertake the trade of lying.