Michel de Montaigne Quotes

France, Philosopher
February 28, 1533 – September, 13, 1592.

Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, Lord of Montaigne was 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 intellectual insight. His massive volume Essais contains some of the most influential essays ever written.

He who fears he will suffer, already suffers because he fears.

Michel de Montaigne
- Fear
- Suffer
On the highest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own bottom.

Michel de Montaigne
- Place
- Bottom
- Throne

If I speak of myself in different ways, that is because I look at myself in different ways.

Michel de Montaigne
- Myself
- Speak
- Look At
When I am attacked by gloomy thoughts, nothing helps me so much as running to my books. They quickly absorb me and banish the clouds from my mind.

Michel de Montaigne
- Books
- Gloom
- Absorb
The most certain sign of wisdom is cheerfulness.

Michel de Montaigne
- Wisdom
- Sign
- Cheerfulness
Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it.

Michel de Montaigne
- Forget
- Memory
- Fix
Learned we may be with another man's learning: we can only be wise with wisdom of our own.

Michel de Montaigne
- Wisdom
- Learn
- Ourselves
If you press me to say why I loved him, I can say no more than because he was he, and I was I.

Michel de Montaigne

I do not care so much what I am to others as I care what I am to myself.

Michel de Montaigne
- Care
- Attitude
- Means
The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.

Michel de Montaigne
- Know
- Thing
- Belong