“He who should teach men to die would at the same time teach them to live.”

— Michel de Montaigne, Essais, Book I, Ch. 18 (wr. 1571–92; pub. 1580–95)

About Michel de Montaigne

1533 – 1592

French Renaissance philosopher, the inventor of the personal essay. His 'Essays' (1580) explore friendship, self-knowledge and human nature.

“Because it was he, because it was I.”

“All passions that suffer themselves to be relished and digested are but moderate.”

“Whatever can be done another day can be done today.”

“Let us learn from the lips of death the lessons of life.”

“No hour of life is lost that is spent in the saddle.”

“You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.”

“A living dog is better than a dead lion.”

“Ye are better than all the ballads that ever were sung or said; for ye are living poems, and all the rest are dead.”

“Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.”