Quote

Behold the hands, how they promise, conjure, appeal, menace, pray, supplicate, refuse, beckon, interrogate, admire, confess, cringe, instruct, command, mock and what not besides, with a variation and multiplication of variation which makes the tongue envious.

Michel de Montaigne

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Michel de Montaigne
Age: 59 †
Born: 1533
Born: February 28
Died: 1592
Died: September 13
Autobiographer
Essayist
French Moralist
Jurist
Philosopher
Poet Lawyer
Politician
Translator
Writer
Michel Eyquem de Montaigne
Miquèu Eiquèm de Montanha
Miqueu Eiquem de Montanha
Makes
Appeals
Envious
Hands
Command
Menace
Admire
Mock
Beckon
Tongue
Behold
Interrogate
Pray
Variation
Conjure
Refuse
Confess
Multiplication
Praying
Appeal
Instruct
Promise
Besides
Cringe

More quotes by Michel de Montaigne

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My art and profession is to live.
Michel de Montaigne
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There is a huge gulf between the man who follows the conventions and laws of his country and the man who sets out to regiment them and to change them.
Michel de Montaigne
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Getting married is very much like going to a restaurant with friends. You order what you want then when you see what the other person has, you wish you had ordered that.
Michel de Montaigne
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Shame on all eloquence which leaves us with a taste for itself and not for its substance.
Michel de Montaigne
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There is a sort of gratification in doing good which makes us rejoice in ourselves.
Michel de Montaigne
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The beginnings of all things are weak and tender. We must therefore be clear-sighted in the beginnings, for, as in their budding we discern not the danger, so in their full growth we perceive not the remedy.
Michel de Montaigne
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If my intentions were not to be read in my eyes and voice, I should not have survived so long without quarrels and without harm, seeing the indiscreet freedom with which I say, right or wrong, whatever comes into my head.
Michel de Montaigne
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If ordinary people complain that I speak too much of myself, I complain that they do not even think of themselves.
Michel de Montaigne
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There are few men who dare to publish to the world the prayers they make to Almighty God.
Michel de Montaigne
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The archer who overshoots his mark does no better than he who falls short of it.
Michel de Montaigne
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Vexations may be petty, but they are vexations still.
Michel de Montaigne
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Gentleness and repose are paramount to everything else in woman.
Michel de Montaigne
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Death pays all debts.
Michel de Montaigne
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All I say is by way of discourse, and nothing by way of advice. I should not speak so boldly if it were my due to be believed.
Michel de Montaigne
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Honesty is a question of right and wrong, not a matter of policy
Michel de Montaigne
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Dreams are faithful interpreters of our inclinations but there is art required to sort and understand them.
Michel de Montaigne
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Our great and glorious masterpiece is to live appropriately.
Michel de Montaigne
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If I am to serve as an instrument of deceit, at least let it be with a clear conscience. I do not want to be considered either so affectionate or so loyal a servant as to be found fit to betray anyone.
Michel de Montaigne
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Nor is it enough to toughen up his soul you must also toughen up his muscles.
Michel de Montaigne
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Examples teach us that in military affairs, and all others of a like nature, study is apt to enervate and relax the courage of man, rather than to give strength and energy to the mind.
Michel de Montaigne