Montaigne's ceiling • Le plafond de Montaigne

This quotation is one of two from the De Natura Rerum of Lucretius (Lucrèce) who lived in the first century BCE.














'O miseras hominum mentes! O pectora cæca! Qualibus in tenebris vitæ quantisque periclis degitur hoc ævi quodcumquest.'

Ô malheureux esprits des hommes! Ô cœurs coincés ! dans quelle ignorance de la vie et dans quels dangers se passe ce morceau de vie quel qu’il soit !

O unhappy mind of man! O stultified hearts! In such ignorance of the world and in what danger are your petty lives eked out.