Michel de Montaigne

France
28 Feb 1533 // 13 Sep 1592
Essayist / Writer

Quotes

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Those who have compared our life to a dream were right... we were sleeping wake, and waking sleep
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
There is no conversation more boring than the one where everybody agrees
There is little less trouble in governing a private family than a whole kingdom
There is as much difference between us and ourselves as between us and others
There is a sort of gratification in doing good which makes us rejoice in ourselves
The way of the world is to make laws, but follow custom
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
The strangest, most generous, and proudest of all virtues is true courage
The public weal requires that men should betray, and lie, and massacre
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On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays