“ He who makes himself out dead when he is alive, is subject to be thought living when he is dying. ”
Michel de Montaigne, The Essays of Michel de Montaigne (1580). copy citation
Author | Michel de Montaigne |
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Source | The Essays of Michel de Montaigne |
Topic | living subject |
Date | 1580 |
Language | English |
Reference | |
Note | Translated by Charles Cotton |
Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3600/3600-h/3600-h.htm |
Context
“He who makes himself lamented without reason is a man not to be lamented when there shall be real cause: to be always complaining is the way never to be lamented; by making himself always in so pitiful a taking, he is never commiserated by any. He who makes himself out dead when he is alive, is subject to be thought living when he is dying. I have seen some who have taken it ill when they have been told that they looked well, and that their pulse was good; restrain their smiles, because they betrayed a recovery, and be angry, at their health because it was not to be lamented: and, which is a great deal more, these were not women.”
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