--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Virtue shuns ease as a companion. It…" description: "\"Virtue shuns ease as a companion. It demands a rough and thorny path.\" — Michel de Montaigne" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/824/michel-de-montaigne-142_character_virtue-shuns-ease-as-a-companion-it-dema_993086.jpg" --- # Virtue shuns ease as a companion. It demands a rough and… ![“Virtue shuns ease as a companion. It demands a rough and thorny path.” quote by Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/824/michel-de-montaigne-142_character_virtue-shuns-ease-as-a-companion-it-dema_993086.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/824/michel-de-montaigne-142_character_virtue-shuns-ease-as-a-companion-it-dema_993086.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/824/michel-de-montaigne-142_character_virtue-shuns-ease-as-a-companion-it-dema_993086.jpg) > “Virtue shuns ease as a companion. It demands a rough and thorny path.” [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. Choosing virtue requires embracing difficulty rather than seeking comfort. **In simple terms:** Virtue demands hardship. Key Takeaway Accept challenges to grow. Themes virtue discipline hardship Mood reflective serious Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal development - leadership decisions - moral dilemmas - overcoming complacency Key Concepts Stoicism ethical philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What comforts are you avoiding for growth? - How does difficulty shape character? A Different Perspective Hardship alone doesn't guarantee virtue; intention matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Companion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/companion/) [Companion Demands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/companion-demands-2046034/) [Demand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demand/) [Demands Rough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demands-rough-2046032/) [Ease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ease/) [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [Path](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/path/) [Rough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rough/) [Shuns Ease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shuns-ease-2046033/) [Thorny Path](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thorny-path-1812256/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) [Virtue Shuns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue-shuns-2046031/) ## Related quotes > [The easy, gentle, and sloping path . . . is not the path of true virtue. It demands a rough and thorny road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-easy-gentle-and-sloping-path-is-not-the-path-of-true-virtue-it/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Virtue can have naught to do with ease. . . . It craves a steep and thorny path.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/virtue-can-have-naught-to-do-with-ease-it-craves-a-steep-and-thorny/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Virtue which shuns, the day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/virtue-which-shuns-the-day/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [“Financial demands, of all the rough winds that blow upon our love, (are) quite the coldest and the most biting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/financial-demands-of-all-the-rough-winds-that-blow-upon-our-love-are/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“In the flow of this world, some are faced with a marble path, some are faced with a thorny path, some are faced with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/in-the-flow-of-this-world-some-are-faced-with-a-marble-path-some-are/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [The thorny path bears some of the sweetest flowers that adorn life. 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With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-cannot-speak-but-he-judges-himself-with-his-will-or-against-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## 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. 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