Quote

For there is no air that men so greedily draw in, that diffuses itself so soon, and that penetrates so deep as that of license.

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
License
Draw
Draws
Air
Soon
Diffuses
Deep
Greedily
Men
Penetrates
Penetrate

More quotes by Michel de Montaigne

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God is favorable to those whom he makes to die by degrees 'tis the only benefit of old age. The last death will be so much the less painful: it will kill but a quarter of a man or but half a one at most.
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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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There is as much difference between us and ourselves as there is between us and others.
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Dreams are faithful interpreters of our inclinations but there is art required to sort and understand them.
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Nobody is exempt from saying stupid things, the harm is to do it presumptuously.
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The perpetual work of your life is but to lay the foundation of death.
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Others form man I tell of him, and portray a particular one, very ill-formed, whom I should really make very different from whathe is if I had to fashion him over again. But now it is done.
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I honor most those to whom I show least honor and where my soul moves with great alacrity, I forget the proper steps of ceremony.
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Who is only good that others may know it, and that he may be the better esteemed when 'tis known, who will do well but upon condition that his virtue may be known to men, is one from whom much service is not to be expected.
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The thing in the world I am most afraid of is fear, and with good reason that passion alone, in the trouble of it, exceeding all other accidents
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Such as are in immediate fear of a losing their estates, of banishment, or of slavery, live in perpetual anguish, and lose all appetite and repose whereas such as are actually poor, slaves, or exiles, ofttimes live as merrily as other folk.
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Teach him a certain refinement in sorting out and selecting his arguments, with an affection for relevance and so for brevity. Above all let him be taught to throw down his arms and surrender to truth as soon as he perceives it, whether the truth is born at his rival's doing or within himself from some change in his ideas.
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I go out of my way, but rather by license than carelessness.... It is the inattentive reader who loses my subject, not I. Some word about it will always be found off in a corner, which will not fail to be sufficient, though it takes little room.
Michel de Montaigne
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I must accommodate my history to the hour: I may presently change, not only by fortune, but also by intention.
Michel de Montaigne
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The easy, gentle, and sloping path . . . is not the path of true virtue. It demands a rough and thorny road.
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Example is a bright looking-glass, universal and for all shapes to look into.
Michel de Montaigne
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A straight oar looks bent in the water. It matters not merely that we see a thing, but how we see it.
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A man must either imitate the vicious or hate them.
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The strength of any plan depends on the time. Circumstances and things eternally shift and change.
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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