The finest lines from Montaigne's Essays
The top 3 according to 11 votes from people: Because it was him, because it was me. · Every man bears the whole form of the human condition. · What do I know?. (Updated Oct 30, 2022.)
Montaigne's lines that are still quoted, from 'What do I know?' to 'Because it was him, because it was me', with the book and chapter of the Essays.
Automatically translated (original in Français). See the original
Top 12
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1
Because it was him, because it was me.
Essays, I, 28, Of Friendship, about La Boétie.
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2
Every man bears the whole form of the human condition.
Essays, III, 2.
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3
What do I know?
Montaigne's motto, Essays, II, 12.
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4
Reader, I am myself the matter of my book.
To the Reader, preface to the Essays.
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5
I want death to find me planting my cabbages.
Essays, I, 20.
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6
Better a well-made head than a well-filled one.
Essays, I, 26, On the Education of Children.
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7
The world is but a perpetual see-saw.
Essays, III, 2.
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8
Truly, man is a marvellously vain, diverse and wavering subject.
Essays, I, 1.
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9
The true mirror of our words is the course of our lives.
Essays, I, 26.
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10
He who would teach men to die would teach them to live.
Essays, I, 20.
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11
The thing I fear most is fear.
Essays, I, 18.
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12
When I play with my cat, who knows if she is not passing her time with me more than I with her?
Essays, II, 12.
Candidates
They don't make it into the top 12… yet. Vote for them to move them up.
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13
Speech belongs half to the one who speaks and half to the one who listens.
Essays, III, 13.
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Comments (1)
« Parce que c'était lui, parce que c'était moi » : je l'ai lue au mariage de mon meilleur ami, tout le monde pleurait