The Inconsistency of Our Actions — The Essays of Montaigne

Montaigne says human actions contradict so wildly that observers struggle to believe one person did them all. Marius is son of Mars and Venus; Pope Boniface enters like a fox, reigns like a lion, dies like a dog; Nero weeps that he learned to write when sentencing men to death.

Judging by one action misleads: a soldier brave under trumpet may be cowardly at law or over a child. Montaigne says Distinguo is his logic; he has nothing to say of himself simply, and constancy is harder to believe than contradiction.

One gallant act does not make a valiant man; Alexander's courage had blemishes. Ambition can teach valour temporarily, but virtue must be for herself. To know a man, follow his trace long, not one scene.