All the world knows me in my book, and my book in me.
Michel De MontaigneRead
It is commonly seene by experience, that excellent memories do rather accompany weake judgements.
Interpretation
Strong memories often come with poor judgment.
This quote by Michel De Montaigne suggests that individuals with exceptional memory may not necessarily possess good judgment. It implies that the ability to recall information vividly does not always correlate with the ability to make sound decisions based on that information, thus highlighting a paradox in human cognition where strong memory does not guarantee wisdom.
In practice
In a discussion about learning styles where someone mentions their excellent memory but struggles with decision-making.
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.
The middle path is the way to wisdom
The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.
Hurt feelings or discomfort of any kind cannot be cause by another person. No one outside me can hurt me. That’s not a possibility. It’s only when I believe a stressful thought that I get hurt. And I’m the one who’s hurting me by believing what I think. This is very good news, because it means that I don’t have to get someone else to stop hurting me. I’m the one who can stop hurting me. It’s within my power.
Information is power. But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves.
One is rarely an impulsive innovator after the age of sixty, but one can still be a very fine orderly and inventive thinker. One rarely procreates children at that age, but one is all the more skilled at educating those who have already been procreated, and education is procreation of another kind.
Look wide, beyond your immediate surroundings and limits, and you see things in their right proportion. Look above the level of things around you and see a higher aim and possibility to your work.
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