The imagination disposes of everything. It creates beauty, justice, and happiness, which are the whole of the world.

I maintain that, if everyone knew what others said about him, there would not be four friends in the world.

If he exalts himself, I humble him. If he humbles himself, I exalt him. And I go on contradicting him Until he understands That he is a monster that passes all understanding.

What amazes me most is to see that everyone is not amazed at his own weakness.

No one is offended at not seeing everything; but one does not like to be mistaken, and that perhaps arises from the fact that man naturally cannot see everything, and that naturally he cannot err in the side he looks at, since the perceptions of our senses are always true.

Montaigne is wrong in declaring that custom ought to be followed simply because it is custom, and not because it is reasonable or just.

Christian piety annihilates the egoism of the heart; worldly politeness veils and represses it.