Michel de Montaigne
Michel de Montaigne
Michel Eyquem de Montaignewas one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance, known for popularizing the essay as a literary genre. His work is noted for its merging of casual anecdotes and autobiography with serious intellectual insight; his massive volume Essaiscontains some of the most influential essays ever written. Montaigne had a direct influence on writers all over the world, including Francis Bacon, René Descartes, Blaise Pascal, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Albert Hirschman, William Hazlitt, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Friedrich Nietzsche,...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth28 February 1533
CountryFrance
It needs courage to be afraid.
I have gathered a posy of other men’s flowers and only the thread that bonds them is my own.
Let [children] be able to do all things, and love to do only the good.
True freedom is to have power over oneself for everything.
It is probable that the principal credit of miracles, visions, enchantments, and such extraordinary occurrences comes from the power of imagination, acting principally upon the minds of the common people, which are softer.
Greatness of soul consists not so much in soaring high and in pressing forward, as in knowing how to adapt and limit oneself.
If I were of the trade, I should naturalize art as much as they "artialize" nature.
All the world knows me in my book, and my book in me.
A lady could not boast of her chastity who was never tempted.
A hair shirt does not always render those chaste who wear it.
Custom is a second nature, and no less powerful.
The laws of conscience, which we pretend to be derived from nature, proceed from Custom.
Intemperance is the plaque of sensuality, and temperance is not its bane but its seasoning.
Dreams are faithful interpreters of our inclinations; but there is art required to sort and understand them.