--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When a man is commonplace in discussion…" description: "\"“When a man is commonplace in discussion yet valued for what he writes that shows that his talents lie in his borrowed sources not in himself.”\" — Mich..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/050/michel-de-montaigne-142_man-commonplace_when-a-man-is-commonplace-in-discussion_109317.jpg" --- # When a man is commonplace in discussion yet valued for… ![“When a man is commonplace in discussion yet valued for what he writes that shows that his talents lie in his borrowed sources not in himself.” quote by Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/050/michel-de-montaigne-142_man-commonplace_when-a-man-is-commonplace-in-discussion_109317.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/050/michel-de-montaigne-142_man-commonplace_when-a-man-is-commonplace-in-discussion_109317.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/050/michel-de-montaigne-142_man-commonplace_when-a-man-is-commonplace-in-discussion_109317.jpg) > ““When a man is commonplace in discussion yet valued for what he writes that shows that his talents lie in his borrowed sources not in himself.”” [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 writer who is ordinary in conversation yet praised for his work likely relies on borrowed ideas rather than original thought. **In simple terms:** Praise may hide lack of originality. Key Takeaway True talent shows in personal insight, not just sources. Themes authorship originality intellectual honesty Mood critical inquisitive Type philosophical didactic When to use this quote - academic publishing - journalism - content creation Key Concepts plagiarism self‑presentation Practical Applications - cite sources transparently Questions to Reflect On - What distinguishes synthesis from plagiarism? - How can we value curation? A Different Perspective Even borrowed ideas can be reshaped into original contributions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Borrowed Sources](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/borrowed-sources-1302842/) [Commonplace Discussion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commonplace-discussion-1302841/) [Discussion Valued](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discussion-valued-1302844/) [Man Commonplace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-commonplace-1302840/) [Talents Lie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talents-lie-1302843/) ## Related quotes > [Cunning has effect from the credulity of others, rather than from the abilities of those who are cunning. It requires no extraordinary talents to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/cunning-has-effect-from-the-credulity-of-others-rather-than-from-the/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The greatest talents often lie buried out of sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/the-greatest-talents-often-lie-buried-out-of-sight/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [As much as I try to grow as a lyricist, I tend to laugh at even calling myself that, because I think that my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-condon/as-much-as-i-try-to-grow-as-a-lyricist-i-tend-to-laugh-at-even/) [Zach Condon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-condon/) > [There is no substitute for hard work. If you're looking for the easy way, if you're looking for the trick, you might get by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wooden/there-is-no-substitute-for-hard-work-if-you-re-looking-for-the-easy/) [John Wooden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wooden/) > [My talents do not lie in DIY.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-talents-do-not-lie-in-diy/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It just means that your talents lie elsewhere, so take the opportunity to seek out what you are good at, and find a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophia-amoruso/it-just-means-that-your-talents-lie-elsewhere-so-take-the-opportunity/) [Sophia Amoruso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophia-amoruso/) > [I don't regard myself as an entertainer. I don't think that's where my talents lie. It always feels a bit uncomfortable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-the-eagle/i-don-t-regard-myself-as-an-entertainer-i-don-t-think-that-s-where-my/) [Eddie the Eagle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-the-eagle/) ## 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/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When a man is commonplace in discussion yet valued for what he writes that shows that his talents lie in his borrowed sources not in himself.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michel de Montaigne" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/when-a-man-is-commonplace-in-discussion-yet-valued-for-what-he-writes/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Man Commonplace" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/when-a-man-is-commonplace-in-discussion-yet-valued-for-what-he-writes/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/050/michel-de-montaigne-142_man-commonplace_when-a-man-is-commonplace-in-discussion_109317.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/050/michel-de-montaigne-142_man-commonplace_when-a-man-is-commonplace-in-discussion_109317.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/050/michel-de-montaigne-142_man-commonplace_when-a-man-is-commonplace-in-discussion_109317.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When a man is commonplace in discussion yet valued for what he writes that shows that his talents lie in his…” — 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": "“When a man is commonplace in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/when-a-man-is-commonplace-in-discussion-yet-valued-for-what-he-writes/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/when-a-man-is-commonplace-in-discussion-yet-valued-for-what-he-writes/#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 } } ] } ```