Michel de Montaigne

“The most certain sign of wisdom is cheerfulness.”

“A man must live in the world and make the best of it, such as it is.”

“Greatness of soul consists not so much in soaring high and in pressing forward, as in knowing how to adapt and limit oneself.”

“There is no passion so much transports the sincerity of judgement as doth anger.”

“Valor is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and the soul.”

“Cowardice is the mother of cruelty.”

“Riches, like glory or health, have no more beauty or pleasure than their possessor is pleased to lend them.”

“The thing I fear most is fear.”

“We are all of us richer than we think we are.”

“If you press me to say why I loved him, I can say no more than because he was he, and I was I.”

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

“The great and glorious masterpiece of man is to know how to live to purpose.”

“The soul that has no established aim loses itself.”

“The great and glorious masterpiece of man is how to live with a purpose.”

“No wind serves him who addresses his voyage to no certain port.”

“Oh, what a valiant faculty is hope.”

“Whatever is enforced by command is more imputed to him who exacts than to him who performs.”

“It is commonly seen by experience that excellent memories do often accompany weak judgements.”

“Fear, desire, hope still push us on toward the future.”

“Philosophy is doubt.”