Michel De Montaigne
Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (; February 28, 1533 – September 13, 1592) was one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance, known for popularising the essay as a literary genre, and commonly thought of as the father of modern skepticism. He became famous for his effortless ability to merge serious intellectual exercises with casual anecdotes and autobiography—and his massive volume Essais (translated literally as "Attempts" or "Trials") contains, to this day, some of the most widely influential essays ever written. Montaigne had a direct influence on writers the world over, including René Descartes, Blaise Pascal, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, William Hazlitt, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Friedrich Nietzsche, Stefan Zweig, Eric Hoffer, Isaac Asimov, and possibly on the later works of William Shakespeare.
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Famous quotes containing the words michel de montaigne, michel de and/or montaigne:
“Nature should have been pleased to have made this age miserable, without making it also ridiculous.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“I heard a good one at Toulouse of a woman who had passed through the hands of some soldiers: “God be praised,” she said, “that at least once in my life I have had my fill without sin!””
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“If I were a maker of books I should compile a register, with comments, of different deaths. He who should teach people to die, would teach them to live.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)