All the world knows me in my book, and my book in me.
Michel De MontaigneRead
He who fears he will suffer, already suffers from his fear.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Fear of future suffering can cause one to experience distress in the present.
This quote by Michel De Montaigne highlights the paradox of fear; by constantly worrying about potential suffering, a person may actually experience emotional pain in the present moment. It suggests that our anxieties can be more debilitating than the actual events we fear, emphasizing the importance of addressing our fears rather than letting them control us.
Themes
FearSufferingAnxietyMindPain
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about overcoming anxiety.
More from Michel De Montaigne
All quotes βAll I say is by way of discourse, and nothing by way of advice. I should not speak so boldly if it were my due to be believed.
Michel De MontaigneRead
Pythagoras used to say that life resembles the Olympic Games: a few people strain their muscles to carry off a prize; others bring trinkets to sell to the crowd for gain; and some there are, and not the worst, who seek no other profit than to look at the show and see how and why everything is done; spectators of the life of other people in order to judge and regulate their own.
Michel De MontaigneRead
There is not much less vexation in the government of a private family than in the managing of an entire state.
Michel De MontaigneRead
Those who have compared our life to a dream were right... we were sleeping wake, and waking sleep.
Michel De MontaigneRead
Such as are in immediate fear of a losing their estates, of banishment, or of slavery, live in perpetual anguish, and lose all appetite and repose; whereas such as are actually poor, slaves, or exiles, ofttimes live as merrily as other folk.
Michel De MontaigneRead
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Back in World War II, we viewed the Japanese as 'yellow, slant-eyed dogs' that believed in different gods. They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different. Does that sound familiar, by any chance, to what's going on today?
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