--- title: "14 Michel De Montaigne Quotes by 14 authors" description: "Browse 14 Michel De Montaigne quotes by 14 authors. Discover the best Michel De Montaigne sayings and thoughts." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/113/william-ury-16849_michel-de-montaigne_michel-de-montaigne-noted-four-centuries_583126.jpg" --- > [“Michel de Montaigne noted four centuries ago: “My life has been full of terrible misfortunes most of which never happened.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ury/michel-de-montaigne-noted-four-centuries-ago-my-life-has-been-full-of/) [William Ury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ury/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/113/william-ury-16849_michel-de-montaigne_michel-de-montaigne-noted-four-centuries_583126.jpg) > [“sixteenth-century philosopher Michel de Montaigne once wrote, “When I play with my cat, how do I know that she is not playing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kaku/sixteenth-century-philosopher-michel-de-montaigne-once-wrote-when-i/) [Michio Kaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michio-kaku/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4d/michio-kaku-907_cats_sixteenth-century-philosopher-michel-de_2969458.png) > [Authors communicate with the people by some special extrinsic mark; I am the first to do so by my entire being, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/authors-communicate-with-the-people-by-some-special-extrinsic-mark-i/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/michel-de-montaigne-142_books_authors-communicate-with-the-people-by-s_1737694.jpg) > [I thought of the words of the Renaissance philosopher Michel de Montaigne. "If you press me to say why I loved him,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-lanyon/i-thought-of-the-words-of-the-renaissance-philosopher-michel-de/) [Josh Lanyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-lanyon/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63d/josh-lanyon-1827_philosopher_i-thought-of-the-words-of-the-renaissanc_2967945.png) > [“The finest thing in the world is knowing how to belong to oneself. Michel de Montaigne”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-stevens/the-finest-thing-in-the-world-is-knowing-how-to-belong-to-oneself/) Laurie Stevens [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/laurie-stevens-106302_los-angeles_the-finest-thing-in-the-world-is-knowing_1644361.jpg) > [“Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it. —Michel de Montaigne John Ling. Fallen Angel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ling/nothing-fixes-a-thing-so-intensely-in-the-memory-as-the-wish-to/) John Ling [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/954/john-ling-249402_fallen-angel_nothing-fixes-a-thing-so-intensely-in-th_949800.jpg) > [“As Michel de Montaigne observed, "The least strained and most natural ways of the soul are the most beautiful; the best occupations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/as-michel-de-montaigne-observed-the-least-strained-and-most-natural/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c35/gretchen-rubin-867_nonfiction_as-michel-de-montaigne-observed-the-leas_1603952.png) > [“Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it.” —Michel de Montaigne, February 28,1533–September 13, 1592”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-gerard/nothing-fixes-a-thing-so-intensely-in-the-memory-as-the-wish-to-2/) [Cindy Gerard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-gerard/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57c/cindy-gerard-12761_forget_nothing-fixes-a-thing-so-intensely-in-th_2697841.png) > [One of my favorite writers is Michel de Montaigne. My wife gave me a beautiful 17th-century edition of Montaigne's essays translated by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-greenblatt/one-of-my-favorite-writers-is-michel-de-montaigne-my-wife-gave-me-a/) [Stephen Greenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-greenblatt/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52e/stephen-greenblatt-10786_17th-century_one-of-my-favorite-writers-is-michel-de_2951689.jpg) > [“For centuries censorship has created best sellers because, as Michel de Montaigne said, 'To forbid us anything is to make us have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-bald/for-centuries-censorship-has-created-best-sellers-because-as-michel/) Margaret Bald [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/120/margaret-bald-80242_banned-books_for-centuries-censorship-has-created-bes_2371325.jpg) > [Quotations are powerful tools. Michel de Montaigne, the father of all essayists, observed, 'I quote others only to better express myself.' Intrepid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lederer/quotations-are-powerful-tools-michel-de-montaigne-the-father-of-all/) [Richard Lederer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lederer/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eeb/richard-lederer-38330_clear_quotations-are-powerful-tools-michel-de_1642722.jpg) > [“In the year of Christ 1571, at the age of thirty-eight, on the last day of February, anniversary of his birth, Michel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne-1533-1592/in-the-year-of-christ-1571-at-the-age-of-thirty-eight-on-the-last-day/) Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592 [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d65/michel-de-montaigne-1533-1592_last-day_in-the-year-of-christ-1571-at-the-age-of_2359194.jpg) > [“I don’t think I’m an exceptionally bad reader. I suspect that many people, maybe even most, are like me. We read and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/i-don-t-think-i-m-an-exceptionally-bad-reader-i-suspect-that-many/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf3/joshua-foer-4147_books_i-don-t-think-i-m-an-exceptionally-bad-r_11853.jpg) > [“Which philosophers would Alain suggest for practical living? Alain’s list overlaps nearly 100% with my own: Epicurus, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Plato, Michel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-ferriss/which-philosophers-would-alain-suggest-for-practical-living-alain-s/) [Timothy Ferriss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-ferriss/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f9/timothy-ferriss-973_every-day_which-philosophers-would-alain-suggest-f_2096035.jpg) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/michel-de-montaigne/#itemlist", "name": "Michel De Montaigne Quotes", "numberOfItems": 14, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Michel de Montaigne noted four centuries ago: “My life has been full of terrible misfortunes most of which never happened.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Ury" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ury/michel-de-montaigne-noted-four-centuries-ago-my-life-has-been-full-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/113/william-ury-16849_michel-de-montaigne_michel-de-montaigne-noted-four-centuries_583126.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/113/william-ury-16849_michel-de-montaigne_michel-de-montaigne-noted-four-centuries_583126.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/113/william-ury-16849_michel-de-montaigne_michel-de-montaigne-noted-four-centuries_583126.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Michel de Montaigne noted four centuries ago: “My life has been full of terrible misfortunes most of which…” — William Ury", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“sixteenth-century philosopher Michel de Montaigne once wrote, “When I play with my cat, how do I know that she is not playing with me rather than I with her?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michio Kaku" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kaku/sixteenth-century-philosopher-michel-de-montaigne-once-wrote-when-i/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4d/michio-kaku-907_cats_sixteenth-century-philosopher-michel-de_2969458.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4d/michio-kaku-907_cats_sixteenth-century-philosopher-michel-de_2969458.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4d/michio-kaku-907_cats_sixteenth-century-philosopher-michel-de_2969458.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“sixteenth-century philosopher Michel de Montaigne once wrote, “When I play with my cat, how do I know that…” — Michio Kaku", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Authors communicate with the people by some special extrinsic mark; 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My wife gave me a beautiful 17th-century edition of Montaigne's essays translated by John Florio. That's probably my most precious possession.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stephen Greenblatt" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-greenblatt/one-of-my-favorite-writers-is-michel-de-montaigne-my-wife-gave-me-a/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52e/stephen-greenblatt-10786_17th-century_one-of-my-favorite-writers-is-michel-de_2951689.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52e/stephen-greenblatt-10786_17th-century_one-of-my-favorite-writers-is-michel-de_2951689.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52e/stephen-greenblatt-10786_17th-century_one-of-my-favorite-writers-is-michel-de_2951689.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One of my favorite writers is Michel de Montaigne. 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(Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature)”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Margaret Bald" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-bald/for-centuries-censorship-has-created-best-sellers-because-as-michel/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/120/margaret-bald-80242_banned-books_for-centuries-censorship-has-created-bes_2371325.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/120/margaret-bald-80242_banned-books_for-centuries-censorship-has-created-bes_2371325.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/120/margaret-bald-80242_banned-books_for-centuries-censorship-has-created-bes_2371325.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For centuries censorship has created best sellers because, as Michel de Montaigne said, 'To forbid us…” — Margaret Bald", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Quotations are powerful tools. Michel de Montaigne, the father of all essayists, observed, 'I quote others only to better express myself.' Intrepid quotations detective Ralph Keyes helps us to discover the clear truth about exactly what was said and who exactly said it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Lederer" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lederer/quotations-are-powerful-tools-michel-de-montaigne-the-father-of-all/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eeb/richard-lederer-38330_clear_quotations-are-powerful-tools-michel-de_1642722.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eeb/richard-lederer-38330_clear_quotations-are-powerful-tools-michel-de_1642722.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eeb/richard-lederer-38330_clear_quotations-are-powerful-tools-michel-de_1642722.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Quotations are powerful tools. 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I suspect that many people, maybe even most, are like me. We read and read and read, and we forget and forget and forget. So why do we bother? Michel de Montaigne expressed the dilemma of extensive reading in the sixteenth century: “I leaf through books, I do not study them,” he wrote. “What I retain of them is something I no longer recognize as anyone else’s. It is only the material from which my judgment has profited, and the thoughts and ideas with which it has become imbued; the author, the place, the words, and other circumstances, I immediately forget.” He goes on to explain how “to compensate a little for the treachery and weakness of my memory,” he adopted the habit of writing in the back of every book a short critical judgment, so as to have at least some general idea of what the tome was about and what he thought of it.  ”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joshua Foer" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/i-don-t-think-i-m-an-exceptionally-bad-reader-i-suspect-that-many/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf3/joshua-foer-4147_books_i-don-t-think-i-m-an-exceptionally-bad-r_11853.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf3/joshua-foer-4147_books_i-don-t-think-i-m-an-exceptionally-bad-r_11853.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf3/joshua-foer-4147_books_i-don-t-think-i-m-an-exceptionally-bad-r_11853.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I don’t think I’m an exceptionally bad reader. I suspect that many people, maybe even most, are like me. We…” — Joshua Foer", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 14, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Which philosophers would Alain suggest for practical living? Alain’s list overlaps nearly 100% with my own: Epicurus, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Plato, Michel de Montaigne, Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Bertrand Russell. * Most-gifted or recommended books? The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, Essays of Michel de Montaigne. * Favorite documentary The Up series: This ongoing series is filmed in the UK, and revisits the same group of people every 7 years. It started with their 7th birthdays (Seven Up!) and continues up to present day, when they are in their 50s. Subjects were picked from a wide variety of social backgrounds. Alain calls these very undramatic and quietly powerful films “probably the best documentary that exists.” TF: This is also the favorite of Stephen Dubner on page 574. Stephen says, “If you are at all interested in any kind of science or sociology, or human decision-making, or nurture versus nature, it is the best thing ever.” * Advice to your 30-year-old self? “I would have said, ‘Appreciate what’s good about this moment. Don’t always think that you’re on a permanent journey. Stop and enjoy the view.’ . . . I always had this assumption that if you appreciate the moment, you’re weakening your resolve to improve your circumstances. That’s not true, but I think when you’re young, it’s sort of associated with that. . . . I had people around me who’d say things like, ‘Oh, a flower, nice.’ A little part of me was thinking, ‘You absolute loser. You’ve taken time to appreciate a flower? Do you not have bigger plans? I mean, this the limit of your ambition?’ and when life’s knocked you around a bit and when you’ve seen a few things, and time has happened and you’ve got some years under your belt, you start to think more highly of modest things like flowers and a pretty sky, or just a morning where nothing’s wrong and everyone’s been pretty nice to everyone else. . . . Fortune can do anything with us. We are very fragile creatures. You only need to tap us or hit us in slightly the wrong place. . . . You only have to push us a little bit, and we crack very easily, whether that’s the pressure of disgrace or physical illness, financial pressure, etc. It doesn’t take very much. So, we do have to appreciate every day that goes by without a major disaster.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Timothy Ferriss" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-ferriss/which-philosophers-would-alain-suggest-for-practical-living-alain-s/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f9/timothy-ferriss-973_every-day_which-philosophers-would-alain-suggest-f_2096035.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f9/timothy-ferriss-973_every-day_which-philosophers-would-alain-suggest-f_2096035.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f9/timothy-ferriss-973_every-day_which-philosophers-would-alain-suggest-f_2096035.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Which philosophers would Alain suggest for practical living? Alain’s list overlaps nearly 100% with my own…” — Timothy Ferriss", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/michel-de-montaigne/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/michel-de-montaigne/", "name": "Michel De Montaigne Quotes", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/michel-de-montaigne/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/113/william-ury-16849_michel-de-montaigne_michel-de-montaigne-noted-four-centuries_583126.jpg" }, "description": "Browse 14 Michel De Montaigne quotes by 14 authors. 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