--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Vexations may be petty, but they are…" description: "\"Vexations may be petty, but they are vexations still.\" — Michel de Montaigne" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ba/michel-de-montaigne-142_may_vexations-may-be-petty-but-they-are-vexa_2797413.jpg" --- # Vexations may be petty, but they are vexations still. ![“Vexations may be petty, but they are vexations still.” quote by Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ba/michel-de-montaigne-142_may_vexations-may-be-petty-but-they-are-vexa_2797413.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ba/michel-de-montaigne-142_may_vexations-may-be-petty-but-they-are-vexa_2797413.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ba/michel-de-montaigne-142_may_vexations-may-be-petty-but-they-are-vexa_2797413.jpg) > “Vexations may be petty, but they are vexations still.” [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. Minor irritations still affect us, even if they seem insignificant. **In simple terms:** Small annoyances still matter. Key Takeaway Address petty issues promptly. Themes irritation attention detail Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - daily work - personal relationships - customer service Key Concepts human nature perception Questions to Reflect On - What minor annoyance have you overlooked? - How does acknowledging small issues improve wellbeing? A Different Perspective Ignoring small problems can lead to larger ones. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/petty/) [Petty Vexations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/petty-vexations-3424655/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Vexation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vexation/) [Vexations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vexations-2062233/) [Vexations Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vexations-petty-3424656/) ## Related quotes > [Petty vexations may at times be petty, but still they are vexations. The smallest and most inconsiderable annoyances are the most piercing. As small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/petty-vexations-may-at-times-be-petty-but-still-they-are-vexations/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [I am worn out by the insults and vexations that this work brings down on us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/i-am-worn-out-by-the-insults-and-vexations-that-this-work-brings-down/) [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/) > [Any other vexations to report?" he asks. "I love the word 'vexations.'" "It's the 'x.' Nice to jump off a 'v' and bite into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/any-other-vexations-to-report-he-asks-i-love-the-word-vexations-it-s/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [Vex not thy spirit at the course of things, they heed not thy vexations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/vex-not-thy-spirit-at-the-course-of-things-they-heed-not-thy-vexations/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Labor is rest from the sorrows that greet us; from all the petty vexations that meet us; from the sin-promptings that assail us; from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/labor-is-rest-from-the-sorrows-that-greet-us-from-all-the-petty/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [Alas! fond child, How are thy thoughts beguil'd To hope for honey from a nest of wasps? Thou may'st as well Go seek for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/alas-fond-child-how-are-thy-thoughts-beguil-d-to-hope-for-honey-from/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [Labor is rest--from the sorrow that greet us; Rest from all petty vexations that meet us, Rest from sin-promptings that ever entreat us, Rest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/labor-is-rest-from-the-sorrow-that-greet-us-rest-from-all-petty/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [“We must all have trials and vexations; but if one’s home is happy, then the rest is comparatively nothing”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-a-southall-tooley/we-must-all-have-trials-and-vexations-but-if-one-s-home-is-happy-then/) [Sarah A. Southall Tooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-a-southall-tooley/) > [There is power in ambition, pleasure in luxury...but envy can gain nothing but vexation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/there-is-power-in-ambition-pleasure-in-luxury-but-envy-can-gain/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Other passions have objects to flatter them, and seem to content and satisfy them for a while; there is power in ambition, pleasure in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/other-passions-have-objects-to-flatter-them-and-seem-to-content-and/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [It was not in her nature, however, to increase her vexations by dwelling on them. She was confident of having performed her duty, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-was-not-in-her-nature-however-to-increase-her-vexations-by/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“vexation, yet filled with unconscious regret for the terrible unknown things that might have, but had not, happened (23)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/vexation-yet-filled-with-unconscious-regret-for-the-terrible-unknown/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [Keep your mouth shut, and close up the doors of sight and sound, and as long as you live you will have no vexation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/keep-your-mouth-shut-and-close-up-the-doors-of-sight-and-sound-and-as/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [The misery of man proceeds not from any single crush of overwhelming evil, but from small vexations continually repeated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-misery-of-man-proceeds-not-from-any-single-crush-of-overwhelming/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“As I, my real self, grew older, I entered more and more into the substance of my dreams. One may dream, and even in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/as-i-my-real-self-grew-older-i-entered-more-and-more-into-the/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) ## 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 May quotes > [There is something more important than any ultimate weapon. That is the ultimate position-the position of total control over Earth that lies somewhere out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/there-is-something-more-important-than-any-ultimate-weapon-that-is/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. 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It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [So many things beat upon us in a lifetime that simply enduring may seem almost beyond us… But the test a loving God has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-b-eyring/so-many-things-beat-upon-us-in-a-lifetime-that-simply-enduring-may/) [Henry B. Eyring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-b-eyring/) > [the appetite for thinking must be regulated, as all sensible people know, for it may stifle one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-appetite-for-thinking-must-be-regulated-as-all-sensible-people/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Then come to realize that you're making mountains out of molehills. Realize how petty you've become. Sure, it may feel like you can't get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-asher/then-come-to-realize-that-you-re-making-mountains-out-of-molehills/) [Jay Asher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-asher/) > [She smiled, if he could see that, and waited for him to ask the real question. But he was silent. He wanted her to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-shinn/she-smiled-if-he-could-see-that-and-waited-for-him-to-ask-the-real/) [Sharon Shinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-shinn/) > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. Many of these cultures feel that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/a-lot-of-indigenous-cultures-are-deeply-involved-in-working-with/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. 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Joshua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-b-joshua/) [Browse all 33,019 May quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Vexations may be petty, but they are vexations still.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michel de Montaigne" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/vexations-may-be-petty-but-they-are-vexations-still/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "May" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/vexations-may-be-petty-but-they-are-vexations-still/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ba/michel-de-montaigne-142_may_vexations-may-be-petty-but-they-are-vexa_2797413.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ba/michel-de-montaigne-142_may_vexations-may-be-petty-but-they-are-vexa_2797413.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ba/michel-de-montaigne-142_may_vexations-may-be-petty-but-they-are-vexa_2797413.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Vexations may be petty, but they are vexations still.” — 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": "Vexations may be petty, but they...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/vexations-may-be-petty-but-they-are-vexations-still/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/vexations-may-be-petty-but-they-are-vexations-still/#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 } } ] } ```