Michel de Montaigne

"The soul's chief virtue is to resolve its doubts."

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."

"The more we study, the more we discover our ignorance."

"Fortune is a powerful warrior; so is prudence a strong one."

"Those who fear nothing are not permitted to fear anything."

"Man is the measure of all things, but what is the measure of man?"

"Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one."

"In science, there are no shortcuts to truth."

"The art of living is to die young but as late as possible."

"He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh about."

"To accuse is easy; to prove is difficult."

"Miracle and monster are the children of wonder."

"The height of wisdom is to learn what to forget."

"In every concealment there is also a disclosure."

"I feel a hunger, a malady, or a kind of unquietness."

"No wisdom can be greater than knowing one's own ignorance."

"Time, which gnaws all things, has taught me that time can be both gift and thief."

"The conduct of our lives is the true mirror of our doctrine."

"No man is a hero to his valet; not because the hero is no hero, but because the valet is a valet."

"Where would be the amusement of life if we were always right?"

"A man is as good as he wants to be."

"The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them."

"I write not for the learned, nor for the pious, but for myself."

"Adventure is the foundation of experience."

"A generous man delights in praising others."

"The world breaks everyone; afterward many are stronger in the broken places."

"The shame lies in losing, not in fighting."

"History is a set of lies agreed upon."

"Of all the vices, the most difficult to root out is cruelty."

"Time is the judge of all things; it reveals what we truly are."