To compose our character is our duty, not to compose books, and to win, not battles and provinces, but order and tranquility in our conduct. Our great and glorious masterpiece is to live appropriately. All other things, ruling, hoarding, building, are only little appendages and props, at most.


Selections from the essays of Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (ed. 1948)

Michel de Montaigne Quotes

To compose our character is our duty, not to compose books, and to win, not battles and provinces, but order and tranquility in our conduct. Our...

To compose our character is our duty, not to compose books, and to win, not battles and provinces, but order and tranquility in our conduct. Our...

To compose our character is our duty, not to compose books, and to win, not battles and provinces, but order and tranquility in our conduct. Our...

To compose our character is our duty, not to compose books, and to win, not battles and provinces, but order and tranquility in our conduct. Our...