If you press me to say why I loved him, I can say no more than it was because he was he, and I was I.

Si on me presse de dire pourquoi je l'aimais, je sens que cela ne se peut exprimer qu'en répondant: parce que c'était lui; parce que c'était moi.

Original text (French)

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Variants

If a man urge me to tell wherefore I loved him, I feel it cannot be expressed but by answering: Because it was he, because it was myself. If a man should importune me to give a reason why I loved him, I find it could no otherwise be expressed, than by making answer: because it was he, because it was I.

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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.