Michel de Montaigne Quotes

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

  Michel de Montaigne

  Inspirational, Funny, Life

  Attributed to "Essais" by Michel de Montaigne, 1595.

  73 Copy quote

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

  Michel de Montaigne

  Ignorance, Men, Pillow

  1 Copy quote

• Whether the events in our life are good or bad, greatly depends on the way we perceive them.

  Michel de Montaigne

  Attitude, Law Of Attraction, Events

  1 Copy quote

• When we have got it, we want something else.

  Michel de Montaigne

  Want Something, Want, Satisfaction

  Michel de Montaigne (2015). “The Essays of Montaigne”, p.480, BookRix

  0 Copy quote

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

  Michel de Montaigne

  Men, Average, Identity

  0 Copy quote

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

  Michel de Montaigne

  Wisdom, Agreement, Political

  Attributed to "Essais" by Michel de Montaigne, 1595.

  65 Copy quote

• The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.

  Michel de Montaigne

  Respect, Self Esteem, Being Alone

  Michel de Montaigne (1958). “Complete Essays”, p.178, Stanford University Press

  82 Copy quote

• 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

  Lying, Satisfaction In Life, Years

  Attributed to "Essais" by Michel de Montaigne, Book I, Ch. 20, 1595.

  100 Copy quote

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

  Michel de Montaigne

  Fear, Happy Life, Men

  64 Copy quote

• 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

  Life, Sweet, Diversity

  Michel de Montaigne (1963). “Montaigne's Essays and Selected Writings”

  86 Copy quote

• 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

  Stupidity, Serious, Ass

  3 Copy quote

• I know well what I am fleeing from but not what I am in search of.

  Michel de Montaigne

  Discovery, Finding Yourself, Fleeing

  Michel de Montaigne (1946). “The essays”

  19 Copy quote

• I neither complain of the past, nor do I fear the future.

  Michel de Montaigne

  Future, Past, Complaining

  Michel de Montaigne (1872). “All the Essays of Michael Seigneur de Montaigne”, p.678

  4 Copy quote

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

  Michel de Montaigne

  Love, Marriage, Ifs

  9 Copy quote

• The most certain sign of wisdom is cheerfulness.

  Michel de Montaigne

  Happiness, Cheerful, Certain

  Michel de Montaigne, Bayle St. John (1866). “Essays [tr. by Cotton”, p.235

  62 Copy quote

• When I quote others I do so in order to express my own ideas more clearly.

  Michel de Montaigne

  Inspirational, Golf, Order

  Michel de Montaigne (1946). “The essays”

  38 Copy quote

• 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.

  Michel de Montaigne

  Respect, Acceptance, Self Reliance

  Attributed to "Essais" by Michel de Montaigne, Book II, Ch. 16, 1595.

  26 Copy quote

• 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

  Praise, Belittle, Ifs

  Attributed to "Essais" by Michel de Montaigne, Book III, Ch. 8, 1595.

  8 Copy quote

• Men are tormented by the opinions they have of things, and not the things themselves.

  Michel de Montaigne

  Men, Opinion

  0 Copy quote

• The only thing certain is nothing is certain.

  Michel de Montaigne

  Positive, Wise, Wisdom

  8 Copy quote

• Excellent memories are often coupled with feeble judgments.

  Michel de Montaigne

  Memories, Judgment, Excellent

  Michel de Montaigne (1958). “Essays”

  21 Copy quote

• It is not necessity but abundance which produces greed.

  Michel de Montaigne

  Greed, Abundance, Produce

  15 Copy quote

• Every one rushes elsewhere and into the future, because no one wants to face one's own inner self.

  Michel de Montaigne

  Self, Want, Faces

  7 Copy quote

• There is no wish more natural than the wish to know.

  Michel de Montaigne

  Wish, Natural, Knows

  "Essais". Book by Michel de Montaigne, Book III, Ch. 13, 1595.

  15 Copy quote

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

  Michel de Montaigne

  Nature, Rivers, Earth Day

  11 Copy quote

You May Also Like:

Etienne de La Boetie

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Rene Descartes

Niccolo Machiavelli

Pierre de Ronsard

William Shakespeare

Francois Rabelais

Desiderius Erasmus