Michel de Montaigne Quotes on Life
Michel de Montaigne made the close, honest observation of his own life the matter of the Essais, and the quotes gathered here reflect that project. Montaigne attended to the way anticipation magnifies suffering, noting, in a line marked here as attributed, that he who fears he shall suffer already suffers what he fears. He counselled a measured engagement with the world that keeps the self intact, advising that one lend oneself to others but give oneself to oneself, and he punctured social pretension with the reminder that on the highest throne in the world we still sit only on our own bottom. He also marvelled that mere opinion can be strong enough to be embraced at the expense of life. Drawn from the Essais, these passages present life as something to be examined candidly and lived within one's own measure.
Quotes
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Attributed to Michel de Montaigne:
“He who fears he shall suffer, already suffers what he fears.”
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“Lend yourself to others, but give yourself to yourself.”
Ch. 10. Of Managing the Will -
“On the highest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own bottom.”
Si, avons nous beau monter sur des échasses, car sur des échasses encore faut-il marcher de nos jambes. Et au plus élevé trône du monde, si ne sommes assis que sur notre cul. -
“There is, nevertheless, a certain respect and a general duty of humanity that ties us, not only to beasts that have life and sense, but even to trees and plants.”
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919) | Book II, Ch. 11. Of Cruelty -
“Even opinion is of force enough to make itself to be espoused at the expense of life.”
Book I | Book I, Ch. 40. Of Good and Evil (tr. Cotton, rev. W. Hazlitt, 1842) -
“There is no man so good that if he placed all his actions and thoughts under the scrutiny of the laws , he would not deserve hanging ten times in his life.”
Book III