Michel de Montaigne
French essayist and philosopher
WORDS ABOUT WORDS
In plain truth, lying is an accursed vice. We are not men, nor have other tie upon one another, but by our word. If we did but discover the horror and gravity of it, we should pursue it with fire and sword, and more justly than other crimes.
—Michel de Montaigne, French essayist and philosopher, On Liars, 1580
Posted on March 23, 2004 at 10:13 AM
WORDS ABOUT WORDS
Let the man who is in search of knowledge fish for it where it lies; there is nothing that I lay less claim to. These are my fancies, in which I make no attempt to convey information about things, only about myself. I may have some objective knowledge one day, or may perhaps have had it in the past when I happened to light on passages that explained things. But I have forgotten it all; for though I am a man of some reading, I am one who retains nothing.
—Michel de Montaigne, French essayist and philosopher, On Books, 1580
Posted on December 9, 1999 at 8:13 AM
WORDS ABOUT WORDS
Those who want to fight usage with grammar are silly.
—Michel de Montaigne, French philosopher, On Educating Children, 1580
Posted on July 19, 1999 at 10:51 AM
WORDS ABOUT WORDS
Why is it that our tongue, so simple for other purposes, becomes obscure and unintelligible in wills and contracts?
—Michel de Montaigne, French essayist and philosopher, On Experience, 1580
Posted on August 20, 1999 at 2:57 PM
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