--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For a desperate disease a desperate cure." description: "\"For a desperate disease a desperate cure.\" — Michel de Montaigne" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/michel-de-montaigne-142_cures_for-a-desperate-disease-a-desperate-cure_953451.jpg" --- # For a desperate disease a desperate cure. ![“For a desperate disease a desperate cure.” quote by Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/michel-de-montaigne-142_cures_for-a-desperate-disease-a-desperate-cure_953451.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/michel-de-montaigne-142_cures_for-a-desperate-disease-a-desperate-cure_953451.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/michel-de-montaigne-142_cures_for-a-desperate-disease-a-desperate-cure_953451.jpg) > “For a desperate disease a desperate cure.” [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Extreme circumstances demand equally extreme solutions, highlighting the tension between moral compromise and necessity. **In simple terms:** Desperate times need desperate cures. Key Takeaway Weigh necessity against ethics. Themes ethics crisis decision‑making Mood reflective serious Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - medical emergencies - wartime decisions - public policy Key Concepts moral relativism survival strategy Questions to Reflect On - When is a drastic solution justified? - What safeguards prevent abuse? A Different Perspective Extreme measures can erode moral standards. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cure/) [Cures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cures/) [Desperate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desperate/) [Desperate Cure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desperate-cure-1715186/) [Desperate Disease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desperate-disease-1715188/) [Disease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disease/) [Disease Desperate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disease-desperate-1715187/) [Doctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doctor/) ## Related quotes > [A desperate disease requires a dangerous remedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-fawkes/a-desperate-disease-requires-a-dangerous-remedy/) [Guy Fawkes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-fawkes/) > [Privatization is a bitter pill but it is a pill that will cure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/privatization-is-a-bitter-pill-but-it-is-a-pill-that-will-cure/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Someday they may cure MS, that idiot thing. It gets in there and they can't get it out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teri-garr/someday-they-may-cure-ms-that-idiot-thing-it-gets-in-there-and-they/) [Teri Garr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teri-garr/) > [While there is no cure, cystic fibrosis is so close to being a livable disease. There is a lot of hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-carver/while-there-is-no-cure-cystic-fibrosis-is-so-close-to-being-a-livable/) [Max Carver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-carver/) > [The only known cure for fear is faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-sadler/the-only-known-cure-for-fear-is-faith/) [Lena Sadler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-sadler/) > [I think it's scandalous that we haven't done more to cure cancer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arlen-specter/i-think-it-s-scandalous-that-we-haven-t-done-more-to-cure-cancer/) [Arlen Specter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arlen-specter/) > [Unfortunately, the administration's plan is an ounce of cure for a pound of problems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-schumer/unfortunately-the-administration-s-plan-is-an-ounce-of-cure-for-a/) [Charles Schumer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-schumer/) > [Work is its own cure. You have to like it better than being loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/work-is-its-own-cure-you-have-to-like-it-better-than-being-loved/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [The highest ideal of cure is the rapid, gentle and permanent restoration of health; that is, the lifting and annihilation of the disease in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-hahnemann/the-highest-ideal-of-cure-is-the-rapid-gentle-and-permanent/) [Samuel Hahnemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-hahnemann/) > [The cure for the greatest part of human miseries is not radical, but palliative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-cure-for-the-greatest-part-of-human-miseries-is-not-radical-but/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Despair is the only cure for illusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-lowen/despair-is-the-only-cure-for-illusion/) [Alexander Lowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-lowen/) > [Ink is the great cure for all human ills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/ink-is-the-great-cure-for-all-human-ills/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [“to cure sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort always.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-cure-sometimes-to-relieve-often-to-comfort-always/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The cure is in the house, not brought by other hands from distant places, but by its own, in agony and blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/the-cure-is-in-the-house-not-brought-by-other-hands-from-distant/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [It is some alleviation to ills we cannot cure to speak of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/it-is-some-alleviation-to-ills-we-cannot-cure-to-speak-of-them/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) ## More by Michel de Montaigne > [No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/no-man-is-exempt-from-saying-silly-things-the-mischief-is-to-say-them/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [The laws keep up their credit, not by being just, but because they are laws; 'tis the mystic foundation of their authority; they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-laws-keep-up-their-credit-not-by-being-just-but-because-they-are/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Every one rushes elsewhere and into the future, because no one wants to face one's own inner self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/every-one-rushes-elsewhere-and-into-the-future-because-no-one-wants/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Beauty is the true prerogative of women, and so peculiarly their own, that our sex, though naturally requiring another sort of feature, is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/beauty-is-the-true-prerogative-of-women-and-so-peculiarly-their-own/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [The height and value of true virtue consists in the facility, utility, and pleasure of its exercise; so far from difficulty, that boys, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-height-and-value-of-true-virtue-consists-in-the-facility-utility/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Fie on the eloquence that leaves us craving itself, not things!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/fie-on-the-eloquence-that-leaves-us-craving-itself-not-things/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [The plainest sign of wisdom is a continual cheerfulness: her state is like that of things in the regions above the moon, always clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-plainest-sign-of-wisdom-is-a-continual-cheerfulness-her-state-is/) [Michel De Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [The corruption of the age is made up by the particular contribution of every individual man; some contribute treachery, others injustice, atheism, tyranny, avarice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-corruption-of-the-age-is-made-up-by-the-particular-contribution/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [If people must be talking about me, I would have it to be truthfully and justly. I would willingly return from the next world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/if-people-must-be-talking-about-me-i-would-have-it-to-be-truthfully/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Most pleasures embrace us but to strangle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/most-pleasures-embrace-us-but-to-strangle/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [In true friendship, in which I am expert, I give myself to my friend more than I draw him to me. I not only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/in-true-friendship-in-which-i-am-expert-i-give-myself-to-my-friend/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [There are as many and innumerable degrees of wit, as there are cubits between this and heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/there-are-as-many-and-innumerable-degrees-of-wit-as-there-are-cubits/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [A man has need of tough ears to hear himself fairly judged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/a-man-has-need-of-tough-ears-to-hear-himself-fairly-judged/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Lucius Arruntius killed himself, he said, to escape both the future and the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/lucius-arruntius-killed-himself-he-said-to-escape-both-the-future-and/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [I have a vocabulary all my own. I pass the time when itis wet and disagreeable. Whenit is fine I do not wish to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/i-have-a-vocabulary-all-my-own-i-pass-the-time-when-itis-wet-and/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) [Explore all 1,131 Michel de Montaigne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) ## More Cure quotes > [“There is a cure and answer to everything, we just haven't found them yet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-halimi/there-is-a-cure-and-answer-to-everything-we-just-haven-t-found-them/) [Eve Halimi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-halimi/) > [It is some alleviation to ills we cannot cure to speak of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/it-is-some-alleviation-to-ills-we-cannot-cure-to-speak-of-them/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [When scientists are asked what they are working on, their response is seldom 'Finding the origin of the universe' or 'Seeking to cure cancer.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/when-scientists-are-asked-what-they-are-working-on-their-response-is/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [When love has been wounded; trust, reassurance, honesty, and intimacy, in abundance, are the only known cures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-love-has-been-wounded-trust-reassurance-honesty-and-intimacy-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't think there is a true cure for PTSD.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-land/i-don-t-think-there-is-a-true-cure-for-ptsd/) [Stephanie Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-land/) > [The cure is in the house, not brought by other hands from distant places, but by its own, in agony and blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/the-cure-is-in-the-house-not-brought-by-other-hands-from-distant/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [“to cure sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort always.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-cure-sometimes-to-relieve-often-to-comfort-always/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We're not going to cure terrorism and spread peace and goodwill in the Middle East by killing innocent people, or I'm not even saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-sheehan/we-re-not-going-to-cure-terrorism-and-spread-peace-and-goodwill-in/) [Cindy Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-sheehan/) > [“Awareness Makes a Cure Possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-davies/awareness-makes-a-cure-possible/) [Sydney Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-davies/) > [I've always found a cure for the blues is wandering into something unknown, and resting there, before coming back to whatever weight you were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-sawyer/i-ve-always-found-a-cure-for-the-blues-is-wandering-into-something/) [Diane Sawyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-sawyer/) > [Ink is the great cure for all human ills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/ink-is-the-great-cure-for-all-human-ills/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [There are no such things as incurable, there are only things for which man has not found a cure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-baruch/there-are-no-such-things-as-incurable-there-are-only-things-for-which/) [Bernard Baruch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-baruch/) > [Despair is the only cure for illusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-lowen/despair-is-the-only-cure-for-illusion/) [Alexander Lowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-lowen/) > [We found that specialists did not know as much as we thought. So, you think maybe there are other answers. There are not but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bronson/we-found-that-specialists-did-not-know-as-much-as-we-thought-so-you/) [Charles Bronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bronson/) > [Though social eugenics was discredited long ago, we still often think of the genome in quasi-eugenic terms. When we read about the latest discovery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-wolf/though-social-eugenics-was-discredited-long-ago-we-still-often-think/) [Gary Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-wolf/) [Browse all 592 Cure quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cure/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For a desperate disease a desperate cure.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michel de Montaigne" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/for-a-desperate-disease-a-desperate-cure/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cure" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/for-a-desperate-disease-a-desperate-cure/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/michel-de-montaigne-142_cures_for-a-desperate-disease-a-desperate-cure_953451.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/michel-de-montaigne-142_cures_for-a-desperate-disease-a-desperate-cure_953451.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/michel-de-montaigne-142_cures_for-a-desperate-disease-a-desperate-cure_953451.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For a desperate disease a desperate cure.” — Michel de Montaigne", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Michel de Montaigne", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "For a desperate disease a desperate...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/for-a-desperate-disease-a-desperate-cure/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/for-a-desperate-disease-a-desperate-cure/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```