Bees ransack flowers here and there, but then they make honey, which is entirely theirs… — Michel de Montaigne
Bees ransack flowers here and there, but then they make honey, which is entirely theirs: it is no longer thyme or marjoram. Similarly a boy will transform and mix his borrowings.
In the original French
Les abeilles pillotent deçà delà les fleurs, mais elles en font apres le miel, qui est tout leur; ce n'est plus thin ny marjolaine: ainsi les pieces empruntées d'autruy, il les transformera et confondera, pour en faire un ouvrage tout sien.
Essays · 1580
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Current citation
De Montaigne, Michel. "On Educating Children." The Complete Essays, edited and translated by M. A. Screech. Penguin Classics, 1993.
Original citation
De Montaigne, Michel. "De l'Institution des Enfants [Of the Education of Children]." Essais [Essays]. Paris: Simon Millanges and Jean Richer, 1580.