--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Presumption is our natural and original…" description: "\"Presumption is our natural and original malady. The most vulnerable and frail of all creatures is man, and at the same time the most arrogant.\" — Miche..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/michel-de-montaigne-142_arrogance_presumption-is-our-natural-and-original_836018.jpg" --- # Presumption is our natural and original malady. The most… ![“Presumption is our natural and original malady. The most vulnerable and frail of all creatures is man, and at the same time the most arrogant.” quote by Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/michel-de-montaigne-142_arrogance_presumption-is-our-natural-and-original_836018.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/michel-de-montaigne-142_arrogance_presumption-is-our-natural-and-original_836018.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/125/michel-de-montaigne-142_arrogance_presumption-is-our-natural-and-original_836018.jpg) > “Presumption is our natural and original malady. The most vulnerable and frail of all creatures is man, and at the same time the most arrogant.” [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. Human nature is inherently flawed by arrogance, making us both fragile and presumptuous, highlighting a core vulnerability. **In simple terms:** Arrogance is our natural flaw. Key Takeaway Recognize and temper personal presumptions. Themes human nature pride vulnerability Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - Leadership decisions - team dynamics - personal reflection - conflict resolution - education Key Concepts Philosophy psychology humility Questions to Reflect On - What assumptions do you hold about yourself? - How can you balance confidence with humility? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on humility may inhibit confidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Arrogance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arrogance/) [Arrogant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arrogant/) [Creatures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creatures/) [Frail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frail/) [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Malady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/malady/) [Malady Vulnerable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/malady-vulnerable-600950/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Most arrogant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/most-arrogant/) [Natural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Originals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/originals/) [Presumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/presumption/) [Presumption Natural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/presumption-natural-600949/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Vulnerable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vulnerable/) ## Related quotes > [The most unhappy and frail creatures are men and yet they are the proudest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-most-unhappy-and-frail-creatures-are-men-and-yet-they-are-the/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Fortune, to show us her power in all things, and to abate our presumption, seeing she could not make fools wise, has made them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/fortune-to-show-us-her-power-in-all-things-and-to-abate-our/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [It is a stupid presumption to go about despising and condemning as false anything that seems to us improbable; this is a common fault…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/it-is-a-stupid-presumption-to-go-about-despising-and-condemning-as/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Liberals are some of the most arrogant, condescending smart alecks, but they're just pure ignorant, and they fit the bill of people who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/liberals-are-some-of-the-most-arrogant-condescending-smart-alecks-but/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [These are the most arrogant pricks in the world starting with Belichick on down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrell-suggs/these-are-the-most-arrogant-pricks-in-the-world-starting-with/) [Terrell Suggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrell-suggs/) > [When men are most sure and arrogant they are commonly most mistaken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/when-men-are-most-sure-and-arrogant-they-are-commonly-most-mistaken/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [When I think of competition it's like I try to create against the past. I think about Michelangelo and Picasso, you know, the pyramids.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanye-west/when-i-think-of-competition-it-s-like-i-try-to-create-against-the/) [Kanye West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanye-west/) > [I want to fall on the floor laughing - imagining Hillary Clinton working well in the Senate with everybody else! Oh, give me a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/i-want-to-fall-on-the-floor-laughing-imagining-hillary-clinton/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [Of all liars the most arrogant are biographers: those who would have us believe, having surveyed a few boxes full of letters, diaries, bank…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-n-wilson/of-all-liars-the-most-arrogant-are-biographers-those-who-would-have/) [A. N. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-n-wilson/) > [I found that of the senses, the eye is the most superficial, the ear the most arrogant, smell the most voluptuous, taste the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/i-found-that-of-the-senses-the-eye-is-the-most-superficial-the-ear/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [I am so credible and so influential and so relevant that I will change things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanye-west/i-am-so-credible-and-so-influential-and-so-relevant-that-i-will/) [Kanye West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanye-west/) > [Spiritual pride is the most dangerous and the most arrogant of all sorts of pride.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-richardson/spiritual-pride-is-the-most-dangerous-and-the-most-arrogant-of-all/) [Samuel Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-richardson/) > [Nothing is so convenient as a decisive argument ... which must at least silence the most arrogant bigotry and superstition, and free us from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/nothing-is-so-convenient-as-a-decisive-argument-which-must-at-least/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [People whistle me because I am good-looking, rich and a great footballer. They are jealous of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristiano-ronaldo/people-whistle-me-because-i-am-good-looking-rich-and-a-great/) [Cristiano Ronaldo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristiano-ronaldo/) > [One of the most arrogant undertakings, to my mind, is to write the biography of a man which pretends to go beyond external facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodor-haecker/one-of-the-most-arrogant-undertakings-to-my-mind-is-to-write-the/) [Theodor Haecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodor-haecker/) ## 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 Arrogance quotes > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [wishes for sons by Lucille Clifton i wish them cramps. i wish them a strange town and the last tampon. I wish them no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/wishes-for-sons-by-lucille-clifton-i-wish-them-cramps-i-wish-them-a/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) > [The structure of the Swiss ruling class is rock-hard, and unchanged since the time of Napoleon. They sit on their mountains and lecture the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-ziegler/the-structure-of-the-swiss-ruling-class-is-rock-hard-and-unchanged/) [Jean Ziegler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-ziegler/) > [What you see of me on TV and all of that, that is me - that's truly how I feel. I'm just multiplying it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-corbin/what-you-see-of-me-on-tv-and-all-of-that-that-is-me-that-s-truly-how/) [Baron Corbin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-corbin/) > [I don't join the New Atheists. So, for example, I wouldn't have the arrogance to lecture some mother who hopes to see her dying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-don-t-join-the-new-atheists-so-for-example-i-wouldn-t-have-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Never mistake someones quietness for their arrogance as you can surely miss out on an awsome personality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/never-mistake-someones-quietness-for-their-arrogance-as-you-can/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/most-of-us-think-of-pride-as-self-centeredness-conceit-boastfulness/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [“I was consumed by a selfishness and arrogance that I didn't dare let go of until I found a new persona to hide behind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-koomson/i-was-consumed-by-a-selfishness-and-arrogance-that-i-didn-t-dare-let/) [Dorothy Koomson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-koomson/) > [Arrogance is the outgrowth of prosperity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/arrogance-is-the-outgrowth-of-prosperity/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [Timing and arrogance are decisive factors in the successful use of talent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-mannes/timing-and-arrogance-are-decisive-factors-in-the-successful-use-of/) [Marya Mannes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-mannes/) > [Some say work smarter, not harder, but the wisest are both. Whether you're more of a hard worker or a smart worker, if you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colby-tatem/some-say-work-smarter-not-harder-but-the-wisest-are-both-whether-you/) [Colby Tatem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colby-tatem/) > [Closed some doors, not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because they no longer lead somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frenz-jeffrey/closed-some-doors-not-because-of-pride-incapacity-or-arrogance-but/) [Frenz Jeffrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frenz-jeffrey/) > [My success isn't a result of arrogance - it's a result of belief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-mcgregor/my-success-isn-t-a-result-of-arrogance-it-s-a-result-of-belief/) [Conor McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-mcgregor/) > [“...a great man who is vicious will only be a great doer of evil, and a rich man who is not liberal will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-cervantes/a-great-man-who-is-vicious-will-only-be-a-great-doer-of-evil-and-a/) [Miguel Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-cervantes/) > [An increasing number of people are growing uncomfortable with the gulf between the world's rich and the poor. Ostentatiously splashing your money around simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kalle-lasn/an-increasing-number-of-people-are-growing-uncomfortable-with-the/) [Kalle Lasn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kalle-lasn/) [Browse all 1,418 Arrogance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arrogance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Presumption is our natural and original malady. 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