4 quotations linked to Essays of Montaigne — Book I by or associated with Michel de Montaigne, with source notes, explanations and related topics.
Skepticism, courage, wisdom, solitude, self-possession, knowledge, judgment and practical philosophy.
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“Nothing noble can be performed without danger.”
Avoiding every danger can also prevent worthy action; prudence needs to distinguish reckless exposure from risks that meaningful conduct sometimes requires.
Source note: Essays of Montaigne, Book I, Charles Cotton translation, in a discussion of distrust, security, and princely conduct.
“Nothing is so firmly believed, as what we least know.”
Certainty can be strongest where understanding is weakest, so confidence by itself is poor evidence that a belief has been examined well.
Source note: Essays of Montaigne, Book I, Charles Cotton translation, in a skeptical discussion of confident claims.
“The most manifest sign of wisdom is a continual cheerfulness.”
Montaigne associates wisdom with a settled, clear disposition rather than with performative gloom or intellectual severity.
Source note: Essays of Montaigne, Book I, Charles Cotton translation; the surrounding passage contrasts wisdom with joyless scholastic display.
“The greatest thing in the world is for a man to know that he is his own.”
Self-possession means keeping enough inward independence that obligations and attachments do not erase the person who carries them.
Source note: Essays of Montaigne, Book I, “Of Solitude,” Charles Cotton translation.