--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Lay a beam between these two towers of…" description: "\"Lay a beam between these two towers of such width as we need to walk on: there is no philosophical wisdom of such great firmness that it can give us co..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17f/michel-de-montaigne-142_apprehension_lay-a-beam-between-these-two-towers-of-s_543503.jpg" --- # Lay a beam between these two towers of such width as we… ![“Lay a beam between these two towers of such width as we need to walk on: there is no philosophical wisdom of such great firmness that it can give us courage to walk on it as we should if it were on the ground.” quote by Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17f/michel-de-montaigne-142_apprehension_lay-a-beam-between-these-two-towers-of-s_543503.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17f/michel-de-montaigne-142_apprehension_lay-a-beam-between-these-two-towers-of-s_543503.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17f/michel-de-montaigne-142_apprehension_lay-a-beam-between-these-two-towers-of-s_543503.jpg) > “Lay a beam between these two towers of such width as we need to walk on: there is no philosophical wisdom of such great firmness that it can give us courage to walk on it as we should if it were on the ground.” [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. A metaphorical bridge must be sturdy enough to support our steps; abstract wisdom alone cannot provide the confidence needed for real action. **In simple terms:** Ideas need practical support to be useful. Key Takeaway Build solid foundations before relying on theory. Themes philosophy confidence action practicality Mood thoughtful determined Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - personal decisionmaking - leadership - project planning - risk assessment Key Concepts metaphor bridge firmness courage Questions to Reflect On - How do you test whether your ideas are sturdy enough for action? - What practical steps can you take to turn belief into confidence? A Different Perspective Abstract concepts may feel safe but lack the tangible support needed for real challenges. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apprehension](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apprehension/) [Courage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courage/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Philosophical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophical/) [Two towers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two-towers/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [“It is necessary to grow up in maturity, firmness and courage in order to reach the goal”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/it-is-necessary-to-grow-up-in-maturity-firmness-and-courage-in-order/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [To truly love is to have the courage to walk away and let the other person who wishes to be free go no matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-truly-love-is-to-have-the-courage-to-walk-away-and-let-the-other/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In all the writers I admire, the common detonator is their courage to walk naked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/in-all-the-writers-i-admire-the-common-detonator-is-their-courage-to/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [People who want More must first have the Courage to Walk out of the Door.-RVM](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rvm/people-who-want-more-must-first-have-the-courage-to-walk-out-of-the-2/) RVM > [I don't care what you want to say behind me, It's just giving me the courage to walk and leave you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rain/i-don-t-care-what-you-want-to-say-behind-me-it-s-just-giving-me-the/) [Rain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rain/) > [“People who want More must first have the Courage to Walk out of the Door.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rvm/people-who-want-more-must-first-have-the-courage-to-walk-out-of-the/) RVM > [May you find the courage to walk your own path. May you dare to venture into the uncharted domains of your own heart. Here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yossi-ghinsberg/may-you-find-the-courage-to-walk-your-own-path-may-you-dare-to/) [Yossi Ghinsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yossi-ghinsberg/) > [Take courage. We walk in the wilderness today and in the Promised Land tomorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-l-moody/take-courage-we-walk-in-the-wilderness-today-and-in-the-promised-land/) [Dwight L. Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-l-moody/) > [“It takes a lot of courage to walk your own path way without others approval.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasso-cahralambous/it-takes-a-lot-of-courage-to-walk-your-own-path-way-without-others/) Vasso Cahralambous > [I would like that all of us, after these days of grace, might have the courage - the courage - to walk in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/i-would-like-that-all-of-us-after-these-days-of-grace-might-have-the/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [It takes great strength and inner courage to stand up and fight for something you love, however there are times when it will take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naz/it-takes-great-strength-and-inner-courage-to-stand-up-and-fight-for/) [Naz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naz/) > [It takes great courage to stand and fight for something, but sometimes it can take even more courage to walk away and leave things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/it-takes-great-courage-to-stand-and-fight-for-something-but-sometimes/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [“It takes a hell of a lot of courage to walk into your own story, but to be the hero of your own life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/it-takes-a-hell-of-a-lot-of-courage-to-walk-into-your-own-story-but/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [Courage is to walk hand in hand with the fear!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/courage-is-to-walk-hand-in-hand-with-the-fear/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [People talk about the courage of condemned men walking to the place of execution: sometimes it needs as much courage to walk with any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/people-talk-about-the-courage-of-condemned-men-walking-to-the-place/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## 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 Apprehension quotes > [Marriages are always moving from one season to another. Sometimes we find ourselves in winter--discouraged, detached, and dissatisfied; other times we experience springtime, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-chapman/marriages-are-always-moving-from-one-season-to-another-sometimes-we/) [Gary Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-chapman/) > [Perhapsthemost sublimeinsights oftheJewishprophets and the Christian gospel is the knowledge that since perfection is love, the apprehension of perfection is at once the means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/perhapsthemost-sublimeinsights-ofthejewishprophets-and-the-christian/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [At length weariness succeeds to labor, and the mind lies at ease in the contemplation of her own attainments without any desire of new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/at-length-weariness-succeeds-to-labor-and-the-mind-lies-at-ease-in/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The apprehension whether people will like it or not also doesn't bother me much. I've always done my work with a gut feeling that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiku-sharda/the-apprehension-whether-people-will-like-it-or-not-also-doesn-t/) [Kiku Sharda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiku-sharda/) > [LIFE, n. A spiritual pickle preserving the body from decay. We live in daily apprehension of its loss; yet when lost it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/life-n-a-spiritual-pickle-preserving-the-body-from-decay-we-live-in/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [“Man may feel like a feeble and powerless pawn, at some moment in his life. This apprehension can come out of the blue, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/man-may-feel-like-a-feeble-and-powerless-pawn-at-some-moment-in-his/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [We stand for organized terror - this should be frankly admitted. Terror is an absolute necessity during times of revolution. Our aim is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-dzerzhinsky/we-stand-for-organized-terror-this-should-be-frankly-admitted-terror/) Felix Dzerzhinsky > [The regulation of commerce, it is true, is a new power; but that seems to be an addition which few oppose and from which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/the-regulation-of-commerce-it-is-true-is-a-new-power-but-that-seems/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [As a father and grandfather, I have witnessed firsthand the joy of new life entering the world. I know the pain and apprehension that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-ortiz/as-a-father-and-grandfather-i-have-witnessed-firsthand-the-joy-of-new/) [Solomon Ortiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-ortiz/) > [Lord, enlighten thou our enemies. Sharpen their wits, give acuteness to their perceptions, and consecutiveness and clearness to their reasoning powers: we are in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/lord-enlighten-thou-our-enemies-sharpen-their-wits-give-acuteness-to/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [The sense of death is most in apprehension.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/the-sense-of-death-is-most-in-apprehension/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Since philosophy is the exploration of the rational, it is for that very reason the apprehension of the present and the actual, not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/since-philosophy-is-the-exploration-of-the-rational-it-is-for-that/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Injustice is not evil in itself, but only in the fear and apprehension that one will not escape those who have been set up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epicurus/injustice-is-not-evil-in-itself-but-only-in-the-fear-and-apprehension/) [Epicurus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epicurus/) > [The fact about himself that the liar hides is that he is attempting to lead us away from a correct apprehension of reality; we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-frankfurt/the-fact-about-himself-that-the-liar-hides-is-that-he-is-attempting/) [Harry Frankfurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-frankfurt/) > [“A person can hurry through or sleep walk through life, but whenever they stop to catch their breath or awaken from a long nap,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/a-person-can-hurry-through-or-sleep-walk-through-life-but-whenever/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) [Browse all 258 Apprehension quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apprehension/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Lay a beam between these two towers of such width as we need to walk on: there is no philosophical wisdom of such great firmness that it can give us courage to walk on it as we should if it were on the ground.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michel de Montaigne" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/lay-a-beam-between-these-two-towers-of-such-width-as-we-need-to-walk/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Apprehension" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/lay-a-beam-between-these-two-towers-of-such-width-as-we-need-to-walk/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17f/michel-de-montaigne-142_apprehension_lay-a-beam-between-these-two-towers-of-s_543503.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17f/michel-de-montaigne-142_apprehension_lay-a-beam-between-these-two-towers-of-s_543503.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17f/michel-de-montaigne-142_apprehension_lay-a-beam-between-these-two-towers-of-s_543503.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Lay a beam between these two towers of such width as we need to walk on: there is no philosophical wisdom of…” — 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": "Lay a beam between these two...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/lay-a-beam-between-these-two-towers-of-such-width-as-we-need-to-walk/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/lay-a-beam-between-these-two-towers-of-such-width-as-we-need-to-walk/#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 } } ] } ```