Michel de Montaigne Quotes

He who is master of all opinions can never be the bigot of any.

I love all men who think, even those who think otherwise than myself.

A study of the history of opinion is a necessary preliminary to the emancipation of the mind.

In the long run of history, the censor and the inquisitor have always lost. The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas. The source of better ideas is wisdom. The surest path to wisdom is a liberal education.

Since opinions do not find in me a ready soil to thrust and spread their roots into, no premise shocks me, no belief hurts me, no matter how opposite to my own they may be.

Just because someone or something thinks differently than you do, it doesn't mean that it's not thinking.

Let the human mind loose. It must be loose. It will be loose. Superstition and dogmatism cannot confine it.

A candid spirit is mightier than the most persistent dogmatism.

I want to inspire people to really open up their minds and not be one-sided or biased or hypocritical.

As soon as we cease to pry about at random, we shall come to rely upon accredited bodies of authoritative dogma; and as soon as we come to rely upon accredited bodies of authoritative dogma, not only are the days of our liberty over, but we have lost the password that has hitherto opened to us the gates of success as well.

A questioning mind is the most cherished resource man has and the rarest.

A cup is useful only when it is empty; and a mind that is filled with beliefs, with dogmas, with assertions, with quotations is really an uncreative mind.

The principle itself of dogmatic religion, dogmatic morality, dogmatic philosophy, is what requires to be rooted out; not any particular manifestation of that principle. The very corner-stone of an education intended to form great minds, must be the recognition of the principle, that the object is to call forth the greatest possible quantity of intellectual power, and to inspire the intensest love of truth.

I want my audiences to be as open-minded as my characters.

Intelligence flourishes only in the ages when belief withers.

I would say for the young: Don't be straight jacketed by ideology. Don't be driven by a structure of ideas.

A liberal mind is a mind that is able to imagine itself believing anything.

Without an open-minded mind, you can never be a great success.

You don't need to push your beliefs onto other people!

I don't really have that many judgements on things, or crazy statements that I feel like I have to put across.

Freedom from the desire for an answer is essential to the understanding of a problem.

It is increasingly important to be open-minded.

Skepticism is not a position that you stake out ahead of time and stick to no matter what.

I've always been very liberal when it comes to people thinking for themselves.

Hybridity keeps me from being rigid about most things. It has taught me to appreciate the contradictions in the world and in my life. I scavenge from the best.