Michel de Montaigne quotes - page 4

Don't discuss yourself, for you are bound to lose; if you belittle yourself, you are believed; if you praise yourself, you are disbelieved. (Michel de Montaigne)
Confidence in others' honesty is no light testimony of one's own integrity. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
The most profound joy has more of gravity than of gaiety in it. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
There is nothing more notable in Socrates than that he found time, when he was an old man, to learn music and dancing, and thought it time well spent. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
The most certain sign of wisdom is cheerfulness. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
The most fruitful and natural exercise for our minds is, in my opinion, conversation. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
If ordinary people complain that I speak too much of myself, I complain that they do not even think of themselves. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
The thing I fear most is fear. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
The finest souls are those that have the most variety and suppleness. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
So it is with minds. Unless you keep them busy with some definite subject that will bridle and control them, they throw themselves in disorder hither and yon in the vague field of imagination... And there is no mad or idle fancy that they do no bring forth in the agitation. (Michel de Montaigne)
Who is not sure of his memory should not attempt lying. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
I find that the best virtue I have has in it some tincture of vice. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
Hath God obliged himself not to exceed the bounds of our knowledge. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
There is no man so good who, were he to submit all his thoughts and actions to the law, would not deserve hanging ten times in his life. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
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. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
The clatter of arms drowns out the voice of law. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
In plain truth, it is not want, but rather abundance, that creates avarice. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
The laws of conscience, which we pretend to be derived from nature, proceed from custom. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
Apollo said that every one's true worship was that which he found in use in the place where he chanced to be. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
He who remembers the evils he has undergone, and those that have threatened him, and the slight causes that have changed him from one state to another, prepares himself in that way for future changes and for recognizing his condition. The life of Caesar has no more to show us than our own; an emperor's or an ordinary man's, it is still a life subject to all human accidents. (Michel de Montaigne)
Habit is a second nature. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
It happens as with cages: the birds without despair to get in, and those within despair of getting out. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
It is not without good reason said, that he who has not a good memory should never take upon him the trade of lying. View quote
Michel de Montaigne
Stubborn and ardent clinging to one's opinion is the best proof of stupidity. View quote
Michel de Montaigne