Q0114
Michel de Montaigne
A verified English rendering from the curated archive.
English
The usefulness of living is not in length of days, but in their use: one may have lived long, and yet have lived little.
Source context
This English passage is associated with Essays I.20, within the tradition of Renaissance Humanism. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.
A short reading
Read in the register of life, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Michel de Montaigne's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?
How to cite this quotation
APA: Michel de Montaigne. (n.d.). The usefulness of living is not in length of days, but in their use: one may have lived long, and yet have lived little. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0114
MLA: Michel de Montaigne. “The usefulness of living is not in length….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0114.
Chicago: Michel de Montaigne. “The usefulness of living is not in length….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0114.