Montaigne, Michel de -- Essays, Book 1, ch. 25 (1.25), “Of the Education of Children [De l’institution des enfans]” (1579) [tr. Screech (1987), 1.26]

Dave — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 17:18:14 +0000

I only quote others the better to quote myself.

[Je ne dis les autres, sinon pour d’autant plus me dire.]

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 1, ch. 25 (1.25), “Of the Education of Children [De l’institution des enfans]” (1579) [tr. Screech (1987), 1.26]
(Source)

This essay was in the 1st (1588) edition, but this passage was added as of the 3rd (1595) ed. Some translators use the 1588 sequence of chapters, not the 1595, and so identify this as ch. 26.

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

I never spake of others, but that I may the more speake of my selfe.
[tr. Florio (1603)]

Neither have I said so much of others, but to get a better opportunity to explain myself.
[tr. Cotton (1686); Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]

I quote others only in order the better to express myself.
[tr. Hazlitt/Wight (1879)]

I do not quote others, save the more fully to express myself.
[tr. Ives (1925), 1.26]

I do not speak the minds of others except to speak my own mind better.
[tr. Frame (1943), 1.26]

I only quote others to make myself more explicit.
[tr. Cohen (1958), 1.26]

Doctor Who (1963) -- 22×07 “The Two Doctors,” Part 1 (1985-02-16) [w. Robert Holmes]

Dave — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 18:01:08 +0000

THE DOCTOR: Well, what’s the use of a good quotation if you can’t change it?

Doctor Who (1963-1989) British science fiction television series, original run (BBC)
22×07 “The Two Doctors,” Part 1 (1985-02-16) [w. Robert Holmes]
(Source)

(Source (Video)). Given after Peri notes a quotation the Doctor just attributed to Rassilon was actually Samuel Johnson. This line is from the Sixth Doctor (the Second Doctor being the other Doctor in the episode).

WIST Quotations

Montaigne, Michel de -- Essays, Book 1, ch. 25 (1.25), “Of the Education of Children [De l’institution des enfans]” (1579) [tr. Screech (1987), 1.26]

Doctor Who (1963) -- 22×07 “The Two Doctors,” Part 1 (1985-02-16) [w. Robert Holmes]