“The greatest thing in the world is for a man to know that he is his own.”
Documented source
Every quote here is traced to a documented source. How we verify →
About this line
It comes from Montaigne’s essay on retreat. He wrote it for people who had spent their best years serving others and were ready to take the remainder back. Just before it, he says to break the knot of our obligations, but gently, without tearing out part of ourselves.
A few paragraphs earlier he describes the idea in a picture: keep “a backshop, wholly our own and entirely free.” A back room of the mind, where wife, children and goods can be loved but not depended on.
A note on the translation
The version you’ll see most often online is “The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.” That’s from Donald M. Frame’s twentieth-century translation. Montaigne died in 1592, but a translation carries its own copyright. We print Charles Cotton’s version, published in the 1680s.
Why we carry this line
I looked it up before adding it to Quoteiac. Basically, we lose sight of who we are because we get so tangled up in what’s going on around us. Perfect for Quoteiac.
The design
Four quiet lines narrow down to two words, set larger and in italic. The sentence spends its length getting there. “His own” is where it lands.
