Michel de Montaigne Quotes

It is not death, it is dying that alarms me.

My trade and art is to live.

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

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

The thing I fear most is fear.

One may be humble out of pride.

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

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

Ambition is not a vice of little people.

The most certain sign of wisdom is cheerfulness.

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

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

A straight oar looks bent in the water. What matters is not merely that we see things but how we see them.

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

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

No pleasure has any savor for me without communication.

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

Not being able to govern events, I govern myself.

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

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

Lend yourself to others, but give yourself to yourself.

Let us not be ashamed to speak what we shame not to think.

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

Love to his soul gave eyes; he knew things are not as they seem. The dream is his real life; the world around him is the dream.

Make your educational laws strict and your criminal ones can be gentle; but if you leave youth its liberty you will have to dig dungeons for ages.