Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance, known for popularizing the essay as a literary genre.There is perhaps no more obvious vanity than to write of it so vainly. These are among his valuable insights.

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I have never seen a greater monster or miracle in the world than myself.

Age imprints more wrinkles in the mind than it does on the face.

Ignorance is the softest pillow on which a man can rest his head.

Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it.

The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them…Whether you find satisfaction in life depends not on your tale of years, but on your will.

I study myself more than any other subject. That is my metaphysics, that is my physics.

Stubborn and ardent clinging to one’s opinion is the best proof of stupidity.

A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband.

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To learn more about Montaigne, please click here.

I highly recommend Sarah Bakewell’s How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer.