Chapter XVI: Book THE THIRD: CHAP. I. to IV

I. Of Profit and Honesty. II. Of Repentance. III. Of Three Commerces. IV. Of Diversion.

A little thing will turn and divert us Abominate that incidental repentance which old age brings Age imprints more wrinkles in the mind than it does on the face Always be parading their pedantic science Am as jealous of my repose as of my authority Anger and hatred are beyond the duty of justice Beast of company, as the ancient said, but not of the herd Books go side by side with me in my whole course Books have many charming qualities to such as know how to choose But ill proves the honour and beauty of an action by its utility Childish ignorance of many very ordinary things Common consolation, discourages and softens me Consoles himself upon the utility and eternity of his writings Deceit maintains and supplies most men's employment Diverting the opinions and conjectures of the people Dying appears to him a natural and indifferent accident Every place of retirement requires a walk Fault will be theirs for having consulted me Few men have been admired by their own domestics Follies do not make me laugh, it is our wisdom which does Folly to put out their own light and shine by a borrowed lustre For fear of the laws and report of men Gently to bear the inconstancy of a lover Give but the rind of my attention Grief provokes itself He may employ his passion, who can make no use of his reason He may well go a foot, they say, who leads his horse in his hand I do not consider what it is now, but what it was then I find no quality so easy to counterfeit as devotion I lay no great stress upon my opinions; or of others I look upon death carelessly when I look upon it universally I receive but little advice, I also give but little I speak truth, not so much as I would, but as much as I dare I understand my men even by their silence and smiles Idleness is to me a very painful labour Imagne the mighty will not abase themselves so much as to live In ordinary friendships I am somewhat cold and shy Leaving nothing unsaid, how home and bitter soever Library: Tis there that I am in my kingdom Malice sucks up the greatest part of its own venom Malicious kind of justice Miserable kind of remedy, to owe one's health to one's disease! Miserable, who has not at home where to be by himself More supportable to be always alone than never to be so My fancy does not go by itself, as when my legs move it My thoughts sleep if I sit still Nearest to the opinions of those with whom they have to do No evil is honourable; but death is honourable No man is free from speaking foolish things Noise of arms deafened the voice of laws None of the sex, let her be as ugly as the devil thinks lovable Obliged to his age for having weaned him from pleasure Open speaking draws out discoveries, like wine and love Perfect men as they are, they are yet simply men. Preachers very often work more upon their auditory than reasons Public weal requires that men should betray, and lie Ridiculous desire of riches when we have lost the use of them Rowers who so advance backward Season a denial with asperity, suspense, or favour So that I could have said no worse behind their backs Socrates: According to what a man can Studied, when young, for ostentation, now for diversion Swim in troubled waters without fishing in them Take a pleasure in being uninterested in other men's affairs The good opinion of the vulgar is injurious The sick man has not to complain who has his cure in his sleeve The virtue of the soul does not consist in flying high Tis an exact life that maintains itself in due order in private Tis not the cause, but their interest, that inflames them Titillation of ill-natured pleasure in seeing others suffer To be a slave, incessantly to be led by the nose by one's self Truly he, with a great effort will shortly say a mighty trifle We do not so much forsake vices as we change them We much more aptly imagine an artisan upon his close-stool What more? they lie with their lovers learnedly What need have they of anything but to live beloved and honoured Wisdom is folly that does not accommodate itself to the common You must let yourself down to those with whom you converse

Dec 2002 The Essays of Montaigne, V15, 1877, Cotton [MN#15][mn15v10.txt]3595