Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Michel de Montaigne

Quote by Michel de Montaigne

“We take other men's knowledge and opinions upon trust; which is an idle and superficial learning. We must make it our own. We are in this way much like him, who having need of fire, goes to a neighbour's house to fetch it, and finding a very good one there, sits down to warm without remembering to carry any with him home.”

Quote by Michel de Montaigne

Book:The Complete Essays
Create image

Work

The Complete Essays

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Michel de Montaigne
Michel de Montaigne

Michel de Montaigne was a French Renaissance philosopher, essayist, and writer. He is considered one of the most significant figures in the history of the essay. Montaigne's work, particularly his book 'Essays', has been influential in the development of modern prose. more

You May Also Like

“The Sabians were allowed to build a new Temple of the Moon God, and to continue their religious rites, after the Arab General Ibn Ghanam conquered Harran in the seventh century AD. This in itself is a sign of most unusual favor, since Islamic armies normally offered "pagans" the choice of either conversion or death. Even more interesting, however, is the Sabians' encounter with the Abbasid Caliph Abu Jafar Abdullah al-Ma'mun, who passed through their city in AD 830 and reportedly quizzed them intensively on their religion. Remembering the Sabian pilgrimages to Giza, it is reasonable to wonder whether there is any connection with the fact that in AD 820, a decade before he visited Harran, it was Ma'mun who tunnelled into the Great Pyramid and opened its previously hidden passageways and chambers. Indeed, it is through "Ma'mun's Hole" that visitors still enter the monument today. Described by Gibbon as "a prince of rare learning," it seems Ma'mun's investigation was prompted by information he'd received about the Great Pyramid, specifically that it contained: 'a secret chamber with maps and tables of the celestial and terrestrial spheres. Although they were said to have been made in the remote past, they were suppposed to be of great accuracy.”

LearningIslamConversionConnectionMapsGreat PyramidSabians
Book:Magicians of the Gods: The Forgotten Wisdom of Earth's Lost Civilization
Create image