Quotes by Michel de Montaigne
Michel de Montaigne retired in 1571 to his château near Bordeaux to read and write. His Essais, first published in 1580 and enlarged until his death, are regarded as the origin of the essay as a literary form. The wording here is Charles Cotton’s English translation of 1685.
Thus, reader, myself am the matter of my book: there’s no reason thou shouldst employ thy leisure about so frivolous and vain a subject.
The most manifest sign of wisdom is a continual cheerfulness;
We must reserve a backshop, wholly our own and entirely free, wherein to settle our true liberty, our principal solitude and retreat.