All the world knows me in my book, and my book in me.
Michel De MontaigneRead
The world is all a carcass and vanity, The shadow of a shadow, a play _x000D_ And in one word, just nothing.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life is transient and ultimately meaningless, akin to a play without substance.
This quote by Michel De Montaigne reflects a philosophical perspective on the nature of existence, suggesting that life, much like a play, lacks intrinsic value, and that all material aspects are ultimately insignificant. The imagery of 'a carcass' and 'the shadow of a shadow' evokes a sense of futility, highlighting that everything we attach importance to is fleeting and insubstantial.
Themes
LifeMeaningExistencePhilosophyVanity
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophical discussion about the meaning of life, one might quote Montaigne to illustrate the fleeting nature of existence.
More from Michel De Montaigne
All quotes βAll I say is by way of discourse, and nothing by way of advice. I should not speak so boldly if it were my due to be believed.
Michel De MontaigneRead
Pythagoras used to say that life resembles the Olympic Games: a few people strain their muscles to carry off a prize; others bring trinkets to sell to the crowd for gain; and some there are, and not the worst, who seek no other profit than to look at the show and see how and why everything is done; spectators of the life of other people in order to judge and regulate their own.
Michel De MontaigneRead
There is not much less vexation in the government of a private family than in the managing of an entire state.
Michel De MontaigneRead
Those who have compared our life to a dream were right... we were sleeping wake, and waking sleep.
Michel De MontaigneRead
Such as are in immediate fear of a losing their estates, of banishment, or of slavery, live in perpetual anguish, and lose all appetite and repose; whereas such as are actually poor, slaves, or exiles, ofttimes live as merrily as other folk.
Michel De MontaigneRead
Similar quotes
The past isn't over. It isn't even past.
William FaulknerRead
There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.
Warren BuffettRead
Relativity applies to physics, not ethics.
Albert EinsteinRead
Uptown is for people who have already done something. Downtown is where theyβre doing something now. I live uptown but I love downtown.
Andy WarholRead
Free speech is not to be regulated like diseased cattle and impure butter. The audience that hissed yesterday may applaud today, even for the same performance.
William O. DouglasRead
You have freedom when you're easy in your harness.
Robert FrostRead