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
A man should ever be ready booted to take his journey.
The births of all things are weak and tender and therefore we should have our eyes intent on beginnings.
A man should not so much respect what he eats, as with whom he eats.
And to bring in a new word by the head and shoulders, they leave out the old one.
One should be ever booted and spurred and ready to depart.
One should always have one's boots on and be ready to leave.
We should rather examine, who is better learned, than who is more learned.
It is the rule of rules, and the general law of all laws, that every person should observe those of the place where he is.
Nature should have been pleased to have made this age miserable, without making it also ridiculous.
If I were of the trade, I should naturalize art as much as they "artialize" nature.
No one should be subjected to force over things which belonged to him.
I would rather produce my passions than brood over them at my expense; they grow languid when they have vent and expression. It is better that their point should operate outwardly than be turned against us.
There is no desire more natural than the desire for knowledge.
We can be knowledgable with other men's knowledge but we cannot be wise with other men's wisdom.