All the world knows me in my book, and my book in me.
Michel De MontaigneRead
Tis so much to be a king, that he only is so by being so.
Interpretation
True kingship is defined by the essence of being a king, not merely by title or position.
This quote by Michel De Montaigne suggests that the nature of kingship transcends the mere title of 'king'βone must embody the qualities and responsibilities of a king to truly be one. It highlights the importance of authenticity and the inherent attributes that define leadership, rather than the superficial trappings of power.
In practice
This quote can be used in a graduation speech to emphasize the importance of being true to oneself.
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.
Better use has been made of association and this powerful instrument of action has been applied for more varied aims in America than anywhere else in the world.
The young man knows that he is irretrievably lost. This is no town of cats, he finally realizes. It is the place where he is meant to be lost. It is another world, which has been prepared especially for him. And never again, for all eternity, will the train stop at this station to take him back to the world he came from.
The tragedy is that we cannot believe the dogmas of religion and metaphysics if we have the strict methods of truth in heart and head, but on the other hand, we have become through the development of humanity so tenderly suffering that we need the highest kind of means of salvation and consolation: whence arises the danger that man may bleed to death through the truth that he realises.
Within the soul of each Vietnam veteran there is probably something that says "Bad war, good soldier." Only now are Americans beginning to separate the war from the warrior.
I don't think any of us really knows why we're here. But I think we're supposed to believe we're here for a purpose.
The slave-breeders and slave-traders, are a small, odious and detested class, among you; and yet in politics, they dictate the course of all of you, and are as completely your masters, as you are the master of your own negroes.
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