I care not so much what I am to others as what I am to myself. I will be rich by myself, and not by borrowing.
Michel de MontaigneFortune does us neither good nor hurt; she only presents us the matter, and the seed, which our soul, more powerfully than she, turns and applies as she best pleases; being the sole cause and sovereign mistress of her own happy or unhappy condition.
Michel de MontaigneI love a gay and sociable wisdom, and shun harshness and austerity in behaviour, holding every surly countenance suspect.
Michel de MontaigneEloquence is an engine invented to manage and wield at will the fierce democracy, and, like medicine to the sick, is only employed in the paroxysms of a disordered state.
Michel de Montaigne