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The laws of conscience, which we pretend to be derived from nature, proceed from custom.

— Michel de Montaigne Essais (1571)

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More quotes by Michel de Montaigne

They make me hate things that are likely, when they would impose them upon me as infallible.

Essais (1571)

I do not speak the minds of others except to speak my own mind better.

Essais (1571)

What of a truth that is bounded by these mountains and is falsehood to the world that lives beyond?

Essais (1571)

God's justice and His power are inseparable; 'tis in vain we invoke His power in an unjust cause.

Essais (1571)

Man is certainly stark mad; he cannot make a worm, and yet he will be making gods by dozens.

Essais (1571)

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The confusion of marriage with morality has done more to destroy the conscience of the human race than any other single error.

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Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.

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Affectation hides three times as many virtues as charity does sins.

Horace Mann Thoughts Selected from the Writings of Horace Mann (1867)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Michel de Montaigne (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.