--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Who is it that does not voluntarily…" description: "\"Who is it that does not voluntarily exchange his health, his repose, and his very life for reputation and glory? The most useless, frivolous, and false..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/430/michel-de-montaigne-142_coin_who-is-it-that-does-not-voluntarily-exch_2301467.jpg" --- # Who is it that does not voluntarily exchange his health… ![“Who is it that does not voluntarily exchange his health, his repose, and his very life for reputation and glory? The most useless, frivolous, and false coin that passes current among us.” quote by Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/430/michel-de-montaigne-142_coin_who-is-it-that-does-not-voluntarily-exch_2301467.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/430/michel-de-montaigne-142_coin_who-is-it-that-does-not-voluntarily-exch_2301467.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/430/michel-de-montaigne-142_coin_who-is-it-that-does-not-voluntarily-exch_2301467.jpg) > “Who is it that does not voluntarily exchange his health, his repose, and his very life for reputation and glory? The most useless, frivolous, and false coin that passes current among us.” [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. People sacrifice health and life for reputation, which is a worthless and false currency. **In simple terms:** Reputation is a hollow exchange for health and life. Key Takeaway Question the worth of fame versus well‑being. Themes reputation health life value Mood critical philosophical Type skeptical inquisitive When to use this quote - career ambition - social media - political power Key Concepts existential critique social pressure Questions to Reflect On - What would you give up for fame? - Is reputation ever worth personal sacrifice? A Different Perspective Reputation can bring genuine benefits; not always hollow. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Coin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coin/) [Coins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coins/) [Currents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/currents/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [False Coin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/false-coin-3535968/) [Frivolous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frivolous/) [Frivolous False](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frivolous-false-5441415/) [Glory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glory/) [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health/) [Repose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repose/) [Reputation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reputation/) [Useless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/useless/) [Useless Frivolous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/useless-frivolous-5441414/) ## Related quotes > [The ring of a false coin is not more recognizable than that of a rhyme setting forth a false sorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/the-ring-of-a-false-coin-is-not-more-recognizable-than-that-of-a/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [Flattery is false coin that is only current thanks to our vanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/flattery-is-false-coin-that-is-only-current-thanks-to-our-vanity/) [François De La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [“Every touch a lie. I have paid her so much false coin that she half thinks she's rich.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/every-touch-a-lie-i-have-paid-her-so-much-false-coin-that-she-half/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [God (in His mercy) accepts false coin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/god-in-his-mercy-accepts-false-coin/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [The true grotesque being the expression of the repose or play of a serious mind, there is a false grotesque opposed to it, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/the-true-grotesque-being-the-expression-of-the-repose-or-play-of-a/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [I enter into discussion and argument with great freedom and ease, inasmuch as opinion finds me in a bad soil to penetrate and take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/i-enter-into-discussion-and-argument-with-great-freedom-and-ease/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Gentleness and repose are paramount to everything else in woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/gentleness-and-repose-are-paramount-to-everything-else-in-woman/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [No profession or occupation is more pleasing than the military; a profession or exercise both noble in execution (for the strongest, most generous and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/no-profession-or-occupation-is-more-pleasing-than-the-military-a/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Ambition is, of all other, the most contrary humor to solitude; and glory and repose are so inconsistent that they cannot possibly inhabit one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/ambition-is-of-all-other-the-most-contrary-humor-to-solitude-and/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Glory and repose are things that cannot possibly inhabit in one and the same place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/glory-and-repose-are-things-that-cannot-possibly-inhabit-in-one-and/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Business in a certain sort of men is a mark of understanding, and they are honored for it. Their souls seek repose in agitation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/business-in-a-certain-sort-of-men-is-a-mark-of-understanding-and-they/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [I have ever loved to repose myself, whether sitting or lying, with my heels as high or higher than my head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/i-have-ever-loved-to-repose-myself-whether-sitting-or-lying-with-my/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [I didn't grow up reading magazines; I was very much in an environment where that would have been deemed trivial, frivolous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-kirwan/i-didn-t-grow-up-reading-magazines-i-was-very-much-in-an-environment/) [Dervla Kirwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-kirwan/) > [Everyone seems to assume that the unscrupulous parts of journalism will be the frivolous or jocular parts. This is against all ethical experience. Jokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/everyone-seems-to-assume-that-the-unscrupulous-parts-of-journalism/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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 Coin quotes > [Money is made at Christmas out of holly and mistletoe, but who save the vendors would greatly care if no green branch were procurable?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gissing/money-is-made-at-christmas-out-of-holly-and-mistletoe-but-who-save/) [George Gissing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gissing/) > ['Memorial Day' is about 'spring break' girls-gone-wild culture which is the seedy underbelly of our American Puritanism, the inverse side of the coin. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-fox/memorial-day-is-about-spring-break-girls-gone-wild-culture-which-is/) [Josh Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-fox/) > [“Money is created from time”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/money-is-created-from-time/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [Time is money says the proverb, but turn it around and you get a precious truth. Money is time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gissing/time-is-money-says-the-proverb-but-turn-it-around-and-you-get-a/) [George Gissing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gissing/) > [“Spare a copper for our cause?" the girl with the coin cup asks, her voice weary. 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