Michel de Montaigne, Essays, in Quotes

A collection of quotes by Michel de Montaigne, Essays, in .

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) was a French philosopher and writer, known primarily for his collection of essays titled "Essays". Born into a wealthy family, Montaigne served as a magistrate and later withdrew from public life to dedicate himself to writing. His essays, published in multiple editions, became a significant literary and philosophical work. Montaigne explored various topics, including skepticism, human nature, and cultural differences, offering personal reflections and insights. His informal and introspective approach to writing significantly influenced the development of the essay as a literary form. Montaigne's work continues to be studied and valued for its philosophical and introspective nature.

...there is no constant existence, neither of our being, nor of the objects. And we, and our judgement, and all mortal things else do uncessantly roll, turn, and passe away. Thus can nothing be certainly established, nor of the one, nor of the other; both the judging and the judged being in continual alteration and motion. We have no communication with being; for every humane nature is ever in the middle between being borne and dying; giving nothing of itself but an obscure appearance and shadow, and an uncertain and weak opinion. And if perhaps you fix your thought to take its being, it would be even as if one should go about to grasp the water: for how much the more he shall close and press that, which by its own nature is ever gliding, so much the more he shall loose what he would hold and fasten. Thus, seeing all things are subject to passe from one real change to another, reason, which therein seeketh a real subsistence, finds herself deceived as unable to apprehend any thing subsistent and permanent...

Michel de Montaigne, Essays, in