All the world knows me in my book, and my book in me.
Michel De MontaigneRead
It is a disaster that wisdom forbids you to be satisfied with yourself and always sends you away dissatisfied and fearful, whereas stubbornness and foolhardiness fill their hosts with joy and assurance.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Wisdom often leads to self-dissatisfaction, while ignorance can bring false confidence.
In this quote, Montaigne reflects on the paradox of wisdom where the pursuit of self-improvement leads to a sense of dissatisfaction. He highlights that true wisdom instills humility and awareness of one's limitations, making one feel unfulfilled, contrasting with the unthinking confidence that comes from stubbornness and ignorance, which can provide a false sense of joy and assurance.
Themes
WisdomDissatisfactionConfidenceIgnoranceHumility
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used to encourage students to embrace the challenges of learning rather than seeking comfort in ignorance.
More from Michel De Montaigne
All quotes →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.
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
Similar quotes
My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there.
Charles KetteringRead
Careful as they may be, developers of Eiffel libraries will always run into cases in which, after releasing a library class, they suddenly experience what in French is called esprit de l'escalier or wit of the staircase: a great thought which unfortunately is an afterthought, like a clever reply that would have stunned all the other dinner guests - if only you had thought of it before walking down the stairs after the party is over.
Bertrand MeyerRead
You know what the Quran teaches me? The Quran teaches me that an incredibly wealthy man can be a failure (Firaun) and a homeless man can be successful (Prophet Ibrahim). It teaches me that success has nothing to do with wealth and failure has nothing to do with poverty.
Nouman Ali KhanRead
A psychologist said to me, there are only two important questions you have to ask yourself. What do you really feel? And, what do you really want? If you can answer those two, you probably can leave your neuroses behind you.
Harold RamisRead
They made me see that the world was beautiful if you were beautiful, and that you couldn't get unless you gave. And you had to give without wanting to get.
T. H. WhiteRead
You don't carry in your countenance a letter of recommendation.
Charles DickensRead