Quotes by Michel de Montaigne

Greatness of soul consists not so much in soaring high and in pressing forward as in knowing how to adapt and limit oneself.

There is no passion so much transports the sincerity of judgement as doth anger.

He who fears he shall suffer already suffers what he fears.

The clearest sign of wisdom is continued cheerfulness.

The Ancient Mariner said to Neptune during a great storm O God you will save me if you wish but I am going to go on holding my tiller straight.

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

Cowardice is the mother of cruelty.

Obstinacy and heat in sticking to ones opinions is the surest proof of stupidity. Is there anything so cocksure so immovable so disdainful so contemplative so solemn and serious as an ass?

One should be ever booted and spurred and ready to depart.

We undo ourselves by impatience. Misfortunes have their life and their limits their sickness and their health.

Riches like glory or health have no more beauty or pleasure than their possessor is pleased to lend them.

There are defeats more triumphant than victories.

All the fame I look for in life is to have lived it quietly.

We are all of us richer than we think we are.

If you press me to say why I loved him I can say no more than it was because he was he and I was 1.

If you press me to say why I loved him I can say no more than because he was he and I was I.

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

The great and glorious masterpiece of man is to know how to live to purpose.

The soul that has no established aim loses itself.

The great and glorious masterpiece of man is how to live with a purpose.