--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Life itself is neither a good nor an…" description: "\"Life itself is neither a good nor an evil: life is where good or evil find a place, depending on how you make it for them.\" — Michel de Montaigne" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40c/michel-de-montaigne-142_ethics_life-itself-is-neither-a-good-nor-an-evi_677351.jpg" --- # Life itself is neither a good nor an evil: life is where… ![“Life itself is neither a good nor an evil: life is where good or evil find a place, depending on how you make it for them.” quote by Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40c/michel-de-montaigne-142_ethics_life-itself-is-neither-a-good-nor-an-evi_677351.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40c/michel-de-montaigne-142_ethics_life-itself-is-neither-a-good-nor-an-evi_677351.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40c/michel-de-montaigne-142_ethics_life-itself-is-neither-a-good-nor-an-evi_677351.jpg) > “Life itself is neither a good nor an evil: life is where good or evil find a place, depending on how you make it for them.” [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. Life is neutral; moral value depends on our actions and choices that give it meaning. **In simple terms:** Life is neutral; we assign good or evil. Key Takeaway Shape life by your choices. Themes morality agency meaning Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - personal decisions - social policies - cultural narratives - leadership Key Concepts existentialism ethical relativism Questions to Reflect On - How do your choices define your life? - Can life be truly neutral? A Different Perspective If external circumstances dominate, personal agency may be limited. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Evil Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil-life-968594/) [Good evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-evil/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-good/) [Life is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-is/) [Life itself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-itself/) [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [Words of wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words-of-wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [“Life in itself is neither good or evil. It is the place of good and evil, according to what you make it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne-1533-1592/life-in-itself-is-neither-good-or-evil-it-is-the-place-of-good-and/) [Michel De Montaigne (1533-1592](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne-1533-1592/) > [Life is neither a good nor an evil: it is a field for good and evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca/life-is-neither-a-good-nor-an-evil-it-is-a-field-for-good-and-evil/) [Seneca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca/) > [Life's neither a good nor an evil: it's a field for good and evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/life-s-neither-a-good-nor-an-evil-it-s-a-field-for-good-and-evil/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Nothing in life is as good as the marriage of true minds between man and woman. As good? It is life itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/nothing-in-life-is-as-good-as-the-marriage-of-true-minds-between-man/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Life in itself is neither good nor evil, it is the place of good and evil, according to what you make it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/life-in-itself-is-neither-good-nor-evil-it-is-the-place-of-good-and/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [The relish of good and evil depends in a great measure upon the opinion we have of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-relish-of-good-and-evil-depends-in-a-great-measure-upon-the/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [An evil life is a kind of death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/an-evil-life-is-a-kind-of-death/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [“One intriguing way to enter into the battle between good and evil, life and death, sanity and madness, is in the pages of fiction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-poe/one-intriguing-way-to-enter-into-the-battle-between-good-and-evil/) [Robert Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-poe/) > [The real danger in life is not death, but living an evil life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/the-real-danger-in-life-is-not-death-but-living-an-evil-life/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [The life of any one can by no means be changed after death; an evil life can in no wise be converted into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emanuel-swedenborg/the-life-of-any-one-can-by-no-means-be-changed-after-death-an-evil/) [Emanuel Swedenborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emanuel-swedenborg/) > [There is no real evil in life, except great pain; all the rest is imaginary, and depends on the light in which we view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-no-real-evil-in-life-except-great-pain-all-the-rest-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It seems to me that all of the evil in life comes from idleness, boredom, and psychic emptiness, but all of that is inevitable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/it-seems-to-me-that-all-of-the-evil-in-life-comes-from-idleness/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [Whether it is good or evil, whether life in itself is pain or pleasure, whether it is uncertain-that it may perhaps be this is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/whether-it-is-good-or-evil-whether-life-in-itself-is-pain-or-pleasure/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [How evil life must be if it were indeed necessary that such imploring cries, such cries of physical and moral wretchedness, should ever and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/how-evil-life-must-be-if-it-were-indeed-necessary-that-such-imploring/) [Emile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [“The unknown characters of writing seem to be endowed with an evil of life of their own as though sentient, and fain would wrest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-hoffman-price/the-unknown-characters-of-writing-seem-to-be-endowed-with-an-evil-of/) [E. Hoffman Price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-hoffman-price/) ## 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 Ethics quotes > [Self-respect and a clear conscience are powerful components of integrity and are the basis for enriching your relationships with others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-waitley/self-respect-and-a-clear-conscience-are-powerful-components-of/) [Denis Waitley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-waitley/) > [“Knowledge without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabelaise/knowledge-without-conscience-is-but-the-ruin-of-the-soul/) [Rabelaise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabelaise/) > [He who mistrusts most should be trusted least.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theognis-of-megara/he-who-mistrusts-most-should-be-trusted-least/) [Theognis of Megara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theognis-of-megara/) > [Writing adds up to the conscience of our times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-firrell/writing-adds-up-to-the-conscience-of-our-times/) [Martin Firrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-firrell/) > [Ethics is the activity of man directed to secure the inner perfection of his own personality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/ethics-is-the-activity-of-man-directed-to-secure-the-inner-perfection/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [My conscience is really active. So I feel bad about spending excess amount of money on things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syd/my-conscience-is-really-active-so-i-feel-bad-about-spending-excess/) [Syd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syd/) > [Records, radio, television, movies, magazines-all are monopolized by the money managers who are guided by one ethic, the words wealth and power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/records-radio-television-movies-magazines-all-are-monopolized-by-the/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [Let us be thankful for health and competence, and, above all, for a quiet conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/izaak-walton/let-us-be-thankful-for-health-and-competence-and-above-all-for-a/) [Izaak Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/izaak-walton/) > [Making money doesn't oblige people to forfeit their honor or their conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-de-rothschild/making-money-doesn-t-oblige-people-to-forfeit-their-honor-or-their/) [Guy de Rothschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-de-rothschild/) > [“If we cannot be happy and powerful and prey on others, we invent conscience and prey on ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/if-we-cannot-be-happy-and-powerful-and-prey-on-others-we-invent/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [There is no perfect justice, just as there is no absolute in ethics. But there is perfect injustice, and we know it when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/there-is-no-perfect-justice-just-as-there-is-no-absolute-in-ethics/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [I think the ethics and morals of genetic engineering are very complicated. It intrigues me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-spottiswoode/i-think-the-ethics-and-morals-of-genetic-engineering-are-very/) [Roger Spottiswoode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-spottiswoode/) > [What our species needs, above all else, is a generally accepted ethical system that is compatible with the scientific knowledge we now possess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-our-species-needs-above-all-else-is-a-generally-accepted-ethical/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Ethics is not definable, is not implementable, because it is not conscious; it involves not only our thinking, but also our feeling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valdemar-w-setzer/ethics-is-not-definable-is-not-implementable-because-it-is-not/) [Valdemar W Setzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valdemar-w-setzer/) > [Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-hayes/any-time-you-give-a-man-something-he-doesn-t-earn-you-cheapen-him-our/) [Woody Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-hayes/) [Browse all 4,548 Ethics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Life itself is neither a good nor an evil: life is where good or evil find a place, depending on how you make it for them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michel de Montaigne" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/life-itself-is-neither-a-good-nor-an-evil-life-is-where-good-or-evil/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ethics" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/life-itself-is-neither-a-good-nor-an-evil-life-is-where-good-or-evil/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40c/michel-de-montaigne-142_ethics_life-itself-is-neither-a-good-nor-an-evi_677351.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40c/michel-de-montaigne-142_ethics_life-itself-is-neither-a-good-nor-an-evi_677351.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40c/michel-de-montaigne-142_ethics_life-itself-is-neither-a-good-nor-an-evi_677351.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Life itself is neither a good nor an evil: life is where good or evil find a place, depending on how you…” — 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": "Life itself is neither a good...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/life-itself-is-neither-a-good-nor-an-evil-life-is-where-good-or-evil/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/life-itself-is-neither-a-good-nor-an-evil-life-is-where-good-or-evil/#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 } } ] } ```