All the world knows me in my book, and my book in me.
Michel De MontaigneRead
A lady could not boast of her chastity who was never tempted.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Chastity cannot be claimed as a virtue without facing temptation.
This quote by Michel De Montaigne suggests that true virtue, like chastity, requires the presence of temptation to be meaningful. Without being tested or challenged by desires and choices, one cannot genuinely claim to possess virtue, as virtue is defined by the ability to resist temptation rather than the absence of it.
Themes
ChastityVirtueTemptationMoralityTesting
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about moral integrity and virtues in a philosophy class.
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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