Quotes by Michel de Montaigne

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

— Michel de Montaigne

Love

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

Life

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

— Michel de Montaigne

Wisdom

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

— Michel de Montaigne

Wisdom

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

Love

In nine lifetimes, you'll never know as much about your cat as your cat knows about you.

— Michel de Montaigne

Life

In true education, anything that comes to our hand is as good as a book: the prank of a page- boy, the blunder of a servant, a bit of table talk - they are all part of the curriculum.

— Michel de Montaigne

Education

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

— Michel de Montaigne

Life

There is no passion so contagious as that of fear.

— Michel de Montaigne

Courage

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

— Michel de Montaigne

Love

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

— Michel de Montaigne

Wisdom

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.

— Michel de Montaigne

Truth

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

— Michel de Montaigne

Wisdom

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

— Michel de Montaigne

Truth

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

— Michel de Montaigne

Wisdom

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

— Michel de Montaigne

Courage

Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it.

— Michel de Montaigne

Wisdom

I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly.

— Michel de Montaigne

Wisdom

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

— Michel de Montaigne

Courage

The most certain sign of wisdom is cheerfulness.

— Michel de Montaigne

Wisdom

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

— Michel de Montaigne

Wisdom

Lend yourself to others, but give yourself to yourself.

— Michel de Montaigne

Wisdom

There is no pleasure to me without communication: there is not so much as a sprightly thought comes into my mind that it does not grieve me to have produced alone, and that I have no one to tell it to.

— Michel de Montaigne

Wisdom

No pleasure has any savor for me without communication.

— Michel de Montaigne

Wisdom