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Category Archives: Michel de Montaigne
Montaigne’s Lesson about Life
“We are great fools,” Montaigne declared, in Of Experience. “I have done nothing today,” the fool says. “What! Have you not lived?” The living of life is a sufficient task. “Have you known how to . . . manage your … Continue reading
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Tagged Essays, history, Montaigne, philosophy
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Fear, and what to do about it: the teachings of Michel de Montaigne
“The thing I fear most is fear.” Such were the words of Michel de Montaigne, the French writer of Essays. Like all humans, Montaigne struggled with fear. How did he wrestle with it, try to conquer it? Montaigne was a … Continue reading
Posted in Biography, books, European history, Michel de Montaigne
Tagged Biography, books, Fear, history, Montaigne, philosophy
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Montaigne’s Piety
Montaigne’s essay, Of Prayers, reveals that Montaigne was filled with piety. He was a conservative Catholic who believed that God existed and ordered reality. But Montaigne’s god is a distant god, an inscrutable god whose wisdom and knowledge is so … Continue reading
Posted in books, Christianity, Michel de Montaigne
Tagged Biography, books, Montaigne, philosophy, Piety
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Sibyl’s Leaves
One of my favorite authors is Michel de Montaigne, author of Essays. In Montaigne’s final essay, “Of Experience,” he traces his experience with the disease of kidney stones. He wrote about his anxiety and fears, his expectation of death, which became … Continue reading
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Tagged books, Montaigne, Poem
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Montaigne and Repentance
Michel de Montaigne, the French writer of Essays, was a thinker. Alone in a library, his library, pondering. Alone, as he was in conception, as he will be in death. Alone, facing his maker, facing the universe, facing himself. No … Continue reading
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Tagged Essays, Montaigne, Repentance
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Montaigne and Human Folly
In the opening note to the reader in Montaigne’s Essays, the author suggests, since the Essays are only about the experiences and ruminations of Michel de Montaigne himself, that it is folly to read further. Montaigne was quite right, of … Continue reading
Posted in books, Christianity, Michel de Montaigne
Tagged Essays, Human Folly, Montaigne, Skepticism
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Montaigne’s Trials
The French thinker Michel de Montaigne wrote in his essay, Of Books: “I make no doubt that I often . . . speak of things that are much better, and more truly, handled by those who are masters of the … Continue reading
Michel de Montaigne’s View of Time
Michel de Montaigne, the sixteenth-century French aristocrat, was neither saint, priest, nor monk, rather a worldly man who lived in a secular time of conflict between Protestants and Catholics. Montaigne was a landowner, a government official, and soldier. He was … Continue reading
Reflections on Montaigne’s Essays
A year ago, I created this blog, the American Plutarch, to write reflections on a variety of historical, philosophical, and religious topics. I invite responses from readers, as I enjoy a dialogue about the nature of humanity. To me, history, … Continue reading
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