A quotation from Montaigne
We readily inquire, “Does he know Greek or Latin?” “Can he write poetry and prose?” But what matters most is what we put last: “Has he become better and wiser?” We ought to find out not who understands most but who understands best. We work merely to fill the memory, leaving the understanding and the sense of right and wrong empty.
[Nous enquerons volontiers, Sçait-il du Grec ou du Latin ? escrit-il en vers ou en prose ? mais, s’il est devenu meilleur ou plus advisé, c’estoit le principal, & c’est ce qui demeure derriere. Il falloit s’enquerir qui est mieux sçavant, non qui est plus sçavant. Nous ne travaillons qu’à remplir la memoire, & laissons l’entendement & la conscience vuide.]
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essay (yyyy), “Of Pedantry[Du pedantisme] (1572-1578), Essays, Book 1, ch. 24 (1.24) (1595) [tr. Screech (1987), ch. 25]
Sourcing, notes, alternate translations: wist.info/montaigne-michel-de/…