Montaigne, Michel de -- Essays, Book 1, ch. 30 (1.30), “Of Cannibals [Des Cannibales]” (1578) [tr. Screech (1987), 1.31]

Dave — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 22:36:22 +0000

Every man calls barbarous anything he is not accustomed to.

[Chacun appelle barbarie, ce qui n’est pas de son usage.]

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 1, ch. 30 (1.30), “Of Cannibals [Des Cannibales]” (1578) [tr. Screech (1987), 1.31]
(Source)

Some translators use the 1588 sequence of chapters, not the 1595, and so identify this as ch. 31.

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

Men call that barbarisme which is not common to them.
[tr. Florio (1603)]

Every one gives the title of barbarism to everything that is not in use in his own country.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]

Everyone gives the denomination of barbarism to what is not the custom of his country.
[tr. Friswell (1868)]

Every one gives the title of barbarism to everything that is not in use in his own country.
[tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]

Every one calls "barbarism" whatever he is not accustomed to.
[tr. Ives (1925), 1.31]

Each man calls barbarism whatever is not his own practice.
[tr. Frame (1943)]

Everyone calls barbarism what is not customary to him.
[ed. Rat (1958), 1.31]

Everyone calls what he is not accustomed to barbarity.
[tr. Atkinson/Sices (2012)]

Goethe, Johann von -- Sprüche in Prosa: Maximen und Reflexionen [Proverbs in Prose: Maxims and Reflections] (1833) [tr. Saunders (1893)]

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Nothing is more terrible than ignorance in action.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Sprüche in Prosa: Maximen und Reflexionen [Proverbs in Prose: Maxims and Reflections] (1833) [tr. Saunders (1893)]
(Source)

Goethe's use of this phrase comes up twice in the Maxims and Reflections. Alternate translations:

From Art and Antiquity, Vol. 5, #3, Individual Points (1826):

Es ist nichts schrecklicher als eine tätige Unwissenheit.
(Source (German))

Nothing is more terrible than ignorance in action.
[tr. Saunders (1893), "Life and Character," sec. 3, #231]

There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.
[tr. Rönnfeldt (1900)]

There is nothing more dreadful than active ignorance.
[tr. Stopp (1995), #367]

From Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years (1829):

Auch nichts schrecklicher ist, als die Unwissenheit handeln zu sehen.
(Source(German))

There is no more terrible sight than ignorance in action.
[tr. Saunders (1893), "Life and Character," sec. 1, #52]

There is nothing more terrible than to see ignorance in action.
[tr. Rönnfeldt (1900)]

Nothing is more frightful than to see ignorance in action.
[tr. Stopp (1995), #367]

WIST Quotations

Montaigne, Michel de -- Essays, Book 1, ch. 30 (1.30), “Of Cannibals [Des Cannibales]” (1578) [tr. Screech (1987), 1.31]

Goethe, Johann von -- Sprüche in Prosa: Maximen und Reflexionen [Proverbs in Prose: Maxims and Reflections] (1833) [tr. Saunders (1893)]