And certainly a wise man never loses anything if he has himself.
[Certes l’homme d’entendement n’a rien perdu, s’il a soy-mesme.]
Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 1, ch. 38 (1.38)), “Of Solitude [De la solitude]” (1572) [tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]
(Source)
This essay and passage were in the 1st (1580) edition. Some translators use the 1588 sequence of chapters, not the 1595, and so identify this as ch. 39.
(Source (French)). Other translations:Verily, a man of understanding hath lost nothing, if he yet have himselfe.
[tr. Florio (1603)]And certainly a wise man loses nothing, if he save but himself.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]Surely the wise man has lost nothing if he has himself.
[tr. Ives (1925), 1.39]Certainly a man of understanding has lost nothing, if he has himself.
[tr. Frame (1943), 1.39]Certainly, if he still has himself, a man of understanding has lost nothing.
[tr. Screech (1987), 1.39]Certainly a man of discernment has lost nothing if he has himself.
[tr. Atkinson/Sices (2012)]
Quotations about:
self-affirmation
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
So let us look for beauty and grace, for love and friendship, for that which is creative and birth-giving and soul-stretching. Let us dare to laugh at ourselves, healthy, affirmative laughter. Only when we take ourselves lightly can we take ourselves seriously, so that we are given the courage to say, “Yes! I dare disturb the universe.”
Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007) American writer
Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
(Source)
RICHARD: And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determinèd to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Richard III, Act 1, sc. 1, l. 28ff (1.1.28-31) (1592)
(Source)
So while our art cannot, as we wish it could, save us from wars, privation, envy, greed, old age, or death, it can revitalize us amidst it all.
Ray Bradbury (1920–2012) American writer, futurist, fabulist
Zen in the Art of Writing, Preface (1994)
(Source)
The first fact about the celebration of a birthday is that it is a way of affirming defiantly, and even flamboyantly, that it is a good thing to be alive.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936) English journalist and writer
“Our Birthday,” G. K.’s Weekly (1935-03-21)
(Source)
