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Can anything be imagined so ridiculous that this miserable and wretched creature, who is not so much as master of himself, but subject to the injuries of all things, should call himself master and emperor of the world, of which he has not power to know the least part, much less to command the whole?

-Michel De Montaigne

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Can Anything Be Imagined So Ridiculous That

Michel De Montaigne

Can anything be imagined so ridiculous that this miserable and wretched creature, who is not so much as master of himself, but subject to the injuries of all things, should call himself master and emperor of the world, of which he has not power to know the least part, much less to command the whole?

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    <p style="font-size: 1.2rem; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 10px;">"can anything be imagined so ridiculous that this miserable and wretched creature, who is not so much as master of himself, but subject to the injuries of all things, should call himself master and emperor of the world, of which he has not power to know the least part, much less to command the whole?"</p>
    <footer style="font-size: 1rem; font-weight: bold;">— Michel de Montaigne</footer>
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World Ridiculous Miserable

More From Michel De Montaigne

Man's greatness is great in that he knows himself wretched. a tree does not know itself wretched. it is then being wretched to know oneself wretched; but it is being great to know that one is wretched.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. but the half-wit remains a half-wit, and the emperor remains an emperor.

Good work is no done by "humble" men. it is one of the first duties of a professor, for example, in any subject, to exaggerate a little both the importance of his subject and his own importance in it. a man who is always asking "is what i do worth while?" and "am i the right person to do it?" will always be ineffective himself and a discouragement to others. he must shut his eyes a little and think a little more of his subject and himself than they deserve. this is not too difficult: it is harder not to make his subject and himself ridiculous by shutting his eyes too tightly.

I'm of the opinion that the real is imagined and the imagined is quite real. the real is imagined, in the sense that we shape our stories, so anything that even happens on the news gets shaped in a certain way and gets a texture, and that the imagined can be real.

But if you are a poor creature--poisoned by a wretched up-bringing in some house full of vulgar jealousies and senseless quarrels--saddled, by no choice of your own, with some loathsome sexual perversion--nagged day in and day out by an inferiority complex that makes you snap at your best friends--do not despair. he knows all about it. you are one of the poor whom he blessed. he knows what a wretched machine you are trying to drive. keep on. do what you can. one day he will fling it on the scrap-heap and give you a new one. and then you may astonish us all - not least yourself.

I'm not a master. i'm a student-master, meaning that i have the knowledge of a master and the expertise of a master, but i'm still learning. so i'm a student-master. i don't believe in the word 'master.' i consider the master as such when they close the casket.

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