---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I must accommodate my history to the…"
description: "\"I must accommodate my history to the hour: I may presently change, not only by fortune, but also by intention.\" — Michel de Montaigne"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/015/michel-de-montaigne-142_accommodate_i-must-accommodate-my-history-to-the-hou_2724368.jpg"
---

#  I must accommodate my history to the hour: I may presently…

![“I must accommodate my history to the hour: I may presently change, not only by fortune, but also by intention.” quote by Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/015/michel-de-montaigne-142_accommodate_i-must-accommodate-my-history-to-the-hou_2724368.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/015/michel-de-montaigne-142_accommodate_i-must-accommodate-my-history-to-the-hou_2724368.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/015/michel-de-montaigne-142_accommodate_i-must-accommodate-my-history-to-the-hou_2724368.jpg)

> “I must accommodate my history to the hour: I may presently change, not only by fortune, but also by intention.”

[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.

One must adapt personal history to present circumstances, changing by chance and deliberate intent.

**In simple terms:** Adapt your past to the present, changing by luck and choice.

Key Takeaway

Align past with present through intentional change.

Themes

self‑growth intentionality time philosophy

Mood

reflective philosophical

Type

advice reflection

When to use this quote

- career pivots
- personal reinvention
- habit formation
- goal setting

Key Concepts

Existentialism self‑determination

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you balance fate and intention?
- What aspects of your history can you reshape?

A Different Perspective

Change can be constrained by external forces beyond intention.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Accommodate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accommodate/) [Accommodate History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accommodate-history-2907190/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Change Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-fortune-931218/) [Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fortune/) [Fortune Intention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fortune-intention-2907191/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Hours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hours/) [Intention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intention/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Presently Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/presently-change-2907189/) [Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wealth/)

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> [A change of fortune hurts a wise man no more than a change of the moon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/a-change-of-fortune-hurts-a-wise-man-no-more-than-a-change-of-the-moon/)

[Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/)

> [A tutor should not be continually thundering instruction into the ears of his pupil, as if he were pouring it through a funnel, but,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/a-tutor-should-not-be-continually-thundering-instruction-into-the/)

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> [Now, since our condition accommodates things to itself, and transforms them according to itself, we no longer know things in their reality; for nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/now-since-our-condition-accommodates-things-to-itself-and-transforms/)

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> [I had rather complain of ill-fortune than be ashamed of victory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/i-had-rather-complain-of-ill-fortune-than-be-ashamed-of-victory/)

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> [It is an interesting law of romance that a truly strong woman will choose a strong man who disagrees with her over a weak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-is-an-interesting-law-of-romance-that-a-truly-strong-woman-will/)

[Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/)

## 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/)

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> [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/)

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> [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/)

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> [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/)

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[Explore all 1,131 Michel de Montaigne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

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> [It is an interesting law of romance that a truly strong woman will choose a strong man who disagrees with her over a weak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-is-an-interesting-law-of-romance-that-a-truly-strong-woman-will/)

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> [We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/we-travel-to-open-our-hearts-and-eyes-and-learn-more-about-the-world/)

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