All the world knows me in my book, and my book in me.
Michel De MontaigneRead
Que sçais-je?" (What do I know?)
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote expresses skepticism about the completeness of human knowledge.
Michel De Montaigne's question 'Que sçais-je?' challenges individuals to reflect on their own understanding and the limitations of their knowledge. It emphasizes humility in the pursuit of wisdom, suggesting that true insight comes from recognizing what we do not know, encouraging a lifelong journey of learning and exploration beyond certainties.
Themes
KnowledgeHumilityWisdomLearningSkepticism
In practice
Example use cases
In a classroom discussion about the value of questioning what we know.
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
The past is always tense, the future perfect.
Zadie SmithRead
Imagine no possessions; I wonder if you can.
John LennonRead
For where is the man that has incontestable evidence of the truth of all that he holds, or of the falsehood of all he condemns; or can say that he has examined to the bottom all his own, or other men's opinions? The necessity of believing without knowledge, nay often upon very slight grounds, in this fleeting state of action and blindness we are in, should make us more busy and careful to inform ourselves than constrain others.
John LockeRead
I am not a believer, not an atheist, not an agnostic. I am still awake at night, asking how? I am more content with the question than I would be with an answer.
Roger EbertRead
Privilege, you see, is one of the great adversaries of the imagination; it spreads a thick layer of adipose tissue over our sensitivity.
Chinua AchebeRead
This is a country that was founded on racism. It was built on racism. It still continues to thrive through wealth disparity, and housing disparity is all built on the backs of racism.
W. Kamau BellRead