If I am pressed to say why I loved him, I feel it can only be explained by replying: "Because it was he; because it was me."

Si on me presse de dire pourquoy je l'aymois, je sens que cela ne se peut exprimer, qu'en respondant: Par ce que c'estoit luy; par ce que c'estoit moy.

Michel de Montaigne

Essays

On his friend Etienne de la Boetie.

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More information about this quote

Topic

Friendship Connecting with others

Author

Michel de Montaigne

Source

Of Friendship Essays

Medium

Essay

Language

French

Time

1580 1580s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Occupation

Philosopher Writer

From

France Europe

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

De Montaigne, Michel. "De l'Amitie [Of Friendship]." Essais [Essays]. Paris: Simon Millanges and Jean Richer, 1580.

Current Citation

De Montaigne, Michel. "On Affectionate Relationships." The Complete Essays, edited and translated by M. A. Screech. Penguin Classics, 1993.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Michel de Montaigne about friendship: “If I am pressed to say why I loved him, I feel it can only be explained…”
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A quote by Michel de Montaigne about friendship: “If I am pressed to say why I loved him, I feel it can only be explained…”
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A quote by Michel de Montaigne about friendship: “If I am pressed to say why I loved him, I feel it can only be explained…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote about Friendship

The ultimate touchstone of friendship is not improvement, neither of the other nor of the self. The ultimate touchstone is witness: the privilege of having been seen by someone and the equal privilege of being granted the sight of the essence of another, to have walked with them and to have believed in them, and sometimes just to have accompanied them for however brief a span, on a journey impossible to accomplish alone.

David Whyte

More information about this quote
Topic
Nature of friendship Friendship Man as social animal

Author

David Whyte
Language
English
Time
2020 2020s 21st century
Authentication Score 1
Citation

Whyte, David. "Friendship." Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment, and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words. Canongate Books, 2020.

Another quote from European Renaissance

We know what we are but know not what we may be.

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

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More information about this quote
Topic
Self-knowledge Human potential
Speaker
Ophelia

Author

William Shakespeare
Source
Hamlet
Medium
Play
Genre
Tragedy (play)
Language
English
Time
1616 1610s 17th century
Era
European Renaissance
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 4, sc. 5.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 4, sc. 5.

Another quote originally in French

The extermination camps, in endeavoring to turn man into a beast, intimated that it is not life alone which makes him man.

Andre Malraux

More information about this quote
Topic
The Holocaust

Author

Andre Malraux
Language
French
Time
1967 1960s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Malraux, Andre. Antimemoires [Anti-memoirs]. Gallimard, 1967, sect. 2.