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I am afraid that our eyes are bigger than our stomachs, and that we have more curiosity than understanding. We grasp at everything, but catch nothing except wind.

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
Wind
Eyes
Stomachs
Understanding
Grasp
Eye
Catch
Everything
Curiosity
Nothing
Except
Bigger
Afraid

More quotes by Michel de Montaigne

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There is as much difference between us and ourselves as there is between us and others.
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Habit is a second nature.
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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.
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The advantage of living is not measured by length, but by use some men have lived long, and lived little attend to it while you are in it. It lies in your will, not in the number of years, for you to have lived enough.
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To speak less of oneself than what one really is, is folly, not modesty and to take that for current pay which is under a man's value, is pusillanimity and cowardice.
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The body enjoys a great share in our being, and has an eminent place in it. Its structure and composition, therefore, are worthy of proper consideration.
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Things seem greater by imagination than they are in effect.
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It is a sign of contraction of the mind when it is content, or of weariness.
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I have gathered a posy of other men’s flowers and only the thread that bonds them is my own.
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A man must either imitate the vicious or hate them.
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Not only does the wind of accidents stir me according to its blowing, but I am also stirred and troubled by the instability of my attitude.
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It's not victory if it doesn't end the war.
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In plain truth, lying is an accursed vice. We are not men, nor have any other tie upon another, but by our word.
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All other knowledge is hurtful to him who has not honesty and good-nature
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It is easier to write an indifferent poem than to understand a good one.
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True it is that she who escapeth safe and unpolluted from out the school of freedom, giveth more confidence of herself than she who comet sound out of the school of severity and restraint.
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Ignorance is the softest pillow on which a man can rest his head.
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We may so seize on virtue, that if we embrace it with an overgreedy and violent desire, it may become vicious.
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We judge a horse not only by its pace on a racecourse, but also by its walk, nay, when resting in its stable.
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We do not correct the man we hang we correct others by him.
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