Wisdom of Michel de Montaigne

Michel de Montaigne (February 28, 1533 – September 13 1592), was a French statesman, writer, and philosopher, known for making the essay a popular literary genre. He was one of the most notable philosophers of the French Renaissance and is most known for his cynical statement, “What do I know?”

Below we list some words of wisdom from Michel de Montaigne.

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

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

“The most certain sign of wisdom is cheerfulness.”

“Not being able to govern events, I govern myself.”

“The lack of wealth is easily repaired but the poverty of the soul is irreplaceable.”

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

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

“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?”

“Life itself is neither a good nor an evil: life is where good or evil find a place, depending on how you make it for them.”

“We commend a horse for his strength, and sureness of foot, and not for his rich caparisons; a greyhound for his share of heels, not for his fine collar; a hawk for her wing, not for her jesses and bells. Why, in like manner, do we not value a man for what is properly his own? He has a great train, a beautiful palace, so much credit, so many thousand pounds a year, and all these are about him, but not in him.”

“If others examined themselves attentively, as I do, they would find themselves, as I do, full of inanity and nonsense. Get rid of it I cannot without getting rid of myself.”

“A man must keep a little back shop where he can be himself without reserve. In solitude alone can he know true freedom.”

“Lend yourself to others, but give yourself to yourself.”

“Happiness involves working toward meaningful goals.”

“Take care that old age does not wrinkle your spirit even more than your face.”“Ignorance is the softest pillow on which a man can rest his head.”

“Though we may be learned by another's knowledge, we can never be wise but by our own experience.”

“Learning is a good medicine: but no medicine is powerful enough to preserve itself from taint and corruption independently of defects in the jar that it is kept in. One man sees clearly but does not see straight: consequently he sees what is good but fails to follow it; he sees knowledge and does not use it.”

“To compose our character is our duty, not to compose books, and to win, not battles and provinces, but order and tranquility in our conduct. Our great and glorious masterpiece is to live appropriately. All other things, ruling, hoarding, building, are only little appendages and props, at most.”

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

“Our great and glorious masterpiece is to live appropriately.”

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

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

“Dreams are faithful interpreters of our inclinations; but there is art required to sort and understand them.”

“Things are not bad in themselves, but our cowardice makes them so.”

“Any person of honor chooses rather to lose his honor than to lose his conscience.”

“Meditation is a rich and powerful method of study for anyone who knows how to examine his mind.”

Copyright © Scott Petullo, Stephen Petullo