--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He that had never seen a river imagined…" description: "\"He that had never seen a river imagined the first he met to be the sea; and the greatest things that have fallen within our knowledge we conclude the e..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24f/michel-de-montaigne-142_extremes_he-that-had-never-seen-a-river-imagined_279550.jpg" --- # He that had never seen a river imagined the first he met… ![“He that had never seen a river imagined the first he met to be the sea; and the greatest things that have fallen within our knowledge we conclude the extremes that nature makes of the kind.” quote by Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24f/michel-de-montaigne-142_extremes_he-that-had-never-seen-a-river-imagined_279550.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24f/michel-de-montaigne-142_extremes_he-that-had-never-seen-a-river-imagined_279550.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24f/michel-de-montaigne-142_extremes_he-that-had-never-seen-a-river-imagined_279550.jpg) > “He that had never seen a river imagined the first he met to be the sea; and the greatest things that have fallen within our knowledge we conclude the extremes that nature makes of the kind.” [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. Encountering the unknown leads to misconceptions, and our limited knowledge forces us to view extremes as the norm. **In simple terms:** First impressions can be misleading. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about the unknown. Themes perception knowledge misconception Mood skeptical inquisitive Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - exploration - science - education - travel - first encounters Key Concepts philosophy cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - What biases shape our view of new experiences? - How can we verify first impressions? A Different Perspective Our brains may exaggerate unfamiliar phenomena. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Extremes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extremes/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivers/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) ## Related quotes > [He that had never seen a river, imagined the first he met with to be the sea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/he-that-had-never-seen-a-river-imagined-the-first-he-met-with-to-be/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Extremes in nature equal ends produce; In man they join to some mysterious use.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/extremes-in-nature-equal-ends-produce-in-man-they-join-to-some/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [One of the great dreams of man must be to find some place between the extremes of nature and civilization where it is possible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-l-pez/one-of-the-great-dreams-of-man-must-be-to-find-some-place-between-the/) [Barry Lopez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-l-pez/) > [“I seen things I dassn’t tell of; and I’ve walked the streets of Tremont when the walls of the ten red cities seemed crashin’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-stevens/i-seen-things-i-dassn-t-tell-of-and-i-ve-walked-the-streets-of/) Francis Stevens > [I have never seen a river that I could not love. Moving water... has a fascinating vitality. It has power and grace and associations.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roderick-haig-brown/i-have-never-seen-a-river-that-i-could-not-love-moving-water-has-a/) [Roderick Haig-Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roderick-haig-brown/) > [She knows not loves that kissed her She knows not where. Art thou the ghost, my sister, White sister there, Am I the ghost,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/algernon-charles-swinburne/she-knows-not-loves-that-kissed-her-she-knows-not-where-art-thou-the/) [Algernon Charles Swinburne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/algernon-charles-swinburne/) > [However far modern science and techniques have fallen short of their inherent possibilities, they have taught mankind at least one lesson; nothing is impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-mumford/however-far-modern-science-and-techniques-have-fallen-short-of-their/) [Lewis Mumford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-mumford/) > [In our own time the whole of Greece has been subject to a low birth rate and a general decrease of the population, owing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/polybius/in-our-own-time-the-whole-of-greece-has-been-subject-to-a-low-birth/) [Polybius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/polybius/) > [The tyrant has fallen, and Iraq is free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/the-tyrant-has-fallen-and-iraq-is-free/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [Great people are not people who have never fallen down. Greatness has to do with how you get back up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/great-people-are-not-people-who-have-never-fallen-down-greatness-has/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [I collect my tools: sight, smell, touch, taste, hearing, intellect. Night has fallen...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/i-collect-my-tools-sight-smell-touch-taste-hearing-intellect-night/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [“He’d fallen for her—for her sometimes amusing, sometimes confounding combination of strength, brains, drive, vulnerability, and mile-wide stubborn streak. He’d fallen for the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samanthe-beck/he-d-fallen-for-her-for-her-sometimes-amusing-sometimes-confounding/) [Samanthe Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samanthe-beck/) > [If, for instance, they have heard something from the postman, they attribute it to a semi-official statement; if they have fallen into conversation with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/if-for-instance-they-have-heard-something-from-the-postman-they/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [I have fallen in love with American names, the sharp names that never get fat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/i-have-fallen-in-love-with-american-names-the-sharp-names-that-never/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) ## 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 Extremes quotes > [It must be assumed and established as a principle, that the right of private property must be regarded as sacred. Wherefore, the law ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-xiii/it-must-be-assumed-and-established-as-a-principle-that-the-right-of/) [Pope Leo XIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-xiii/) > [While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/while-the-people-retain-their-virtue-and-vigilance-no-administration/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The concept of humanity is an especially useful ideological instrument of imperialist expansion, and in its ethical-humanitarian form it is a specific vehicle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schmitt/the-concept-of-humanity-is-an-especially-useful-ideological/) [Carl Schmitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schmitt/) > [One should try to locate power at the extreme of its exercise, where it is always less legal in character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/one-should-try-to-locate-power-at-the-extreme-of-its-exercise-where/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [It's fine to talk about politics with people you agree with. But it is rude to argue about politics with people you disagree with.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-lessig/it-s-fine-to-talk-about-politics-with-people-you-agree-with-but-it-is/) [Lawrence Lessig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-lessig/) > [Either dragons should exist completely or fail to exist at all, he felt. A dragon only half-existing was worse than the extremes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/either-dragons-should-exist-completely-or-fail-to-exist-at-all-he/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Playing for complications is an extreme measure that a player should adopt only when he cannot find a clear and logical plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-alekhine/playing-for-complications-is-an-extreme-measure-that-a-player-should/) [Alexander Alekhine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-alekhine/) > [I strongly reject any conceptual scheme that places our options on a line, and holds that the only alternative to a pair of extreme…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/i-strongly-reject-any-conceptual-scheme-that-places-our-options-on-a/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [My childhood was extreme.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tori-amos/my-childhood-was-extreme/) [Tori Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tori-amos/) > [I like to push characters to extremes so they have to make really tough decisions and there is no life more extreme than that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cleave/i-like-to-push-characters-to-extremes-so-they-have-to-make-really/) [Chris Cleave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cleave/) > [An excessive preponderance of an idealistic mood is harmful to society: it creates daydreaming, political Don Quixotism, hope for heavenly intervention. This is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henryk-sienkiewicz/an-excessive-preponderance-of-an-idealistic-mood-is-harmful-to/) [Henryk Sienkiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henryk-sienkiewicz/) > [I think that for thousands of years people have made the observation that there are certain kinds of extreme depressive states that seem to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/i-think-that-for-thousands-of-years-people-have-made-the-observation/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [I find that Americans are all in the middle somewhere, except for the extreme nuts, and extreme nuts on both sides are the loudest.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-titus/i-find-that-americans-are-all-in-the-middle-somewhere-except-for-the/) [Christopher Titus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-titus/) > [I have what I call an iron prescription that helps me keep sane when I naturally drift toward preferring one ideology over another and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/i-have-what-i-call-an-iron-prescription-that-helps-me-keep-sane-when/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [I think the only real referent for anybody writing drama is probably Hamlet. You have the most extreme tragic drama, this sort of blood-boltered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/i-think-the-only-real-referent-for-anybody-writing-drama-is-probably/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) [Browse all 1,963 Extremes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extremes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "He that had never seen a river imagined the first he met to be the sea; and the greatest things that have fallen within our knowledge we conclude the extremes that nature makes of the kind.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michel de Montaigne" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/he-that-had-never-seen-a-river-imagined-the-first-he-met-to-be-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Extremes" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/he-that-had-never-seen-a-river-imagined-the-first-he-met-to-be-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24f/michel-de-montaigne-142_extremes_he-that-had-never-seen-a-river-imagined_279550.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24f/michel-de-montaigne-142_extremes_he-that-had-never-seen-a-river-imagined_279550.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24f/michel-de-montaigne-142_extremes_he-that-had-never-seen-a-river-imagined_279550.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He that had never seen a river imagined the first he met to be the sea; and the greatest things that have…” — 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": "He that had never seen a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/he-that-had-never-seen-a-river-imagined-the-first-he-met-to-be-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/he-that-had-never-seen-a-river-imagined-the-first-he-met-to-be-the/#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 } } ] } ```