All the world knows me in my book, and my book in me.
Michel De MontaigneRead
Off I go, rummaging about in books for sayings which please me.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a desire for knowledge and the joy of discovering meaningful thoughts in literature.
In this quote, Michel De Montaigne highlights the importance and pleasure derived from exploring literature and seeking out insights that resonate with the individual. It reflects an active engagement with books as a source of wisdom and personal enrichment, embodying the idea that reading is a journey of discovery and self-reflection.
In practice
This quote can be used during a book club meeting to express the joy of discovering meaningful quotes in literature.
All the world knows me in my book, and my book in me.
All 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.
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.
There is not much less vexation in the government of a private family than in the managing of an entire state.
Those who have compared our life to a dream were right... we were sleeping wake, and waking sleep.
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.
I'm still a bit of a reading glutton, I think, because I browse, read a bit of the back copy, flip through the book, read a bit of the text, and if it still seems fascinating, I read it. That's why my bedside table is so cluttered: I want to imbibe it all.
I believe that curiosity, wonder and passion are defining qualities of imaginative minds and great teachers; that restlessness and discontent are vital things; and that intense experience and suffering instruct us in ways that less intense emotions can never do.
The person who wins the Nobel Prize is not the person who read the most journal articles and took the most notes on them. It's the person who knew what to look for. And cultivating that capacity to seek what's significant, always willing to question whether you're on the right track - that's what education is going to be about, whether it's using computers and the Internet, or pencil and paper, or books.
I believe that education is the fundamental method of social progress and reform.
I entered the University of Natal as a preliminary-year student in 1966 and stayed on to June 1972, when I was expelled from the university. I was then doing third-year medicine.
As always, a lot of bad books will be published. Some good books will be published, and you have to seek them out.
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