Michel de Montaigne

"I do not care so much what I am to others as I care what I am to myself."

"There were many terrible things in my life and most of them never happened."

"The least strained and most natural ways of the soul are the most beautiful; the best occupations are the least forced."

"Even from their infancy we frame them to the sports of love: their instruction, behavior, attire, grace, learning and all their words azimuth only at love, respects only affection. Their nurses and their keepers imprint no other thing in them."

"There is indeed a certain sense of gratification when we do a good deed that gives us inward satisfaction, and a generous pride that accompanies a good conscience…These testimonies of a good conscience are pleasant; and such a natural pleasure is very beneficial to us; it is the only payment that can never fail. “On Repentance"

"I listen with attention to the judgment of all men;but so far as I can remember,I have followed none but my own."

"Though the ancient poet in Plutarch tells us we must not trouble the gods with our affairs because they take no heed of our angers and disputes, we can never enough decry the disorderly sallies of our minds."

"Confidence in others' honesty is no light testimony of one's own integrity."

"Though the ancient poet in Plutarch tells us we must not trouble the gods with our affairs because they take no heed of our angers and disputes, we can never enough decry the disorderly sallies of our minds."

"The most certain sign of wisdom is cheerfulness."

"If there is such a thing as a good marriage, it is because it resembles friendship rather than love."

"The least strained and most natural ways of the soul are the most beautiful; the best occupations are the least forced."

"The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them... Whether you find satisfaction in life depends not on your tale of years, but on your will."