Details and explanations are worthless to people who lack understanding. Philosophy is inaccessible to individuals devoid of curiosity. Personal growth cannot be cultivated in apathetic, barren soil.
Before quitting his job and retiring to live in a farm, Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) had witnessed outrageous displays of prejudice and irrationality. Widespread violence had driven him close to losing all hope for humanity. Luckily, he opted for taking a step back and examining the situation.
Montaigne’s conclusions are spread all over his essays. I can summarize here one of his main conclusions: People who don’t read books tend to be narrow-minded, gullible, emotional, and prone to exaggerated reactions.
Happiness goes hand in hand with rationality, serenity, and thoughtfulness, but those cannot be improvised. Neither Plato nor Aristotle are coming back to lecture the public. Today, only books open the door to philosophy, personal growth, and self-reliance, which are the pillars of happiness.
Montaigne was particularly aware of the link between self-reliance and reading. He considered the former a consequence of the latter.
Montaigne on how reading provides perspective
People who read become self-aware, prudent, and forward-looking. They realize the importance of making good decisions in times of crisis, instead of succumbing to fashions and social pressures.
Montaigne considered reading the basis for self-reliance due to its sharpening effect on the mind. Readers can have a one-to-one conversation with the best authors from past centuries, and strengthen their determination to do the right thing.
I do not think that other media (television, podcasts, videos, etc.) can provide such a deep connection to abstract ideas. In his essay “Of Experience,” Montaigne praised reading because “it can render any situation better.” Reading does so by making readers more self-reliant, more capable of dealing with trouble of all kinds.
Montaigne also extolled the healing powers of reading. He called it “the best medicine in times of discouragement.” That’s because reading enhances self-confidence and self-reliance in dark days, when setbacks seem overwhelming.
Despite its much-touted benefits, autosuggestion rarely does the trick of turning losers into winners. That’s because self-talk lacks the credibility supplied by experience.
Conversely, a good book is invested with the author’s years or decades of experience. It may steer the reader’s thoughts in the right direction faster than a truckload of autosuggestion.
Montaigne’s essay “On Conserving One’s Will”
Montaigne’s essay “On Conserving One’s Will” admits the difficulty of preserving one’s self-reliance in times of trouble. I have personally witnessed intelligent people lose their marbles and make large mistakes because of fear. Unfortunately, their self-reliance collapsed when put to the test.
I attribute their spiritual frailty to insufficient reading. They could have strengthened their resolve by conversing with the greatest minds of past centuries. They could have developed an profound self-reliance, of the sort that only books can supply.
Montaigne makes specific recommendations for readers in search of a stronger self-reliance. He mentions in particular the works of Seneca (4 BC-AD 65) and Epictetus (AD 55-135) as excellent tools for conserving one’s will in times of distress.
Those authors are conveying us four essential principles for enhancing one’s self-reliance.
Michel de Montaigne’s lessons about reading
[1] We should learn to assess events and people in context if we want to arrive at realistic conclusions. Excessive optimism, excessive pessimism, and excessive naivety can prove lethal.
It is only through reading (or extensive experience) that we grow capable of passing accurate judgements. It requires effort to acquire the self-confidence to think critically, but reading can speed up the process.
[2] To a great extent, self-confidence depends on lifestyle. It is supported by habits that one has adopted and maintained in good and bad times. I am referring to frugality, pro-activeness, prudence, foresight, and risk reduction.
Epictetus stresses the importance of acquiring those habits a step at a time. Self-confidence needs to be cultivated each day by acquiring the correct habits. It needs to take deep roots, so that it can withstand all storms. Reading is the best cultivation method of self-confidence.
[3] Seneca emphasised the importance of responding wisely to adversity. Self-confidence enables us to choose an effective response to obstacles, a response that might sometimes consist of circumventing or re-framing the obstacle.
Reading accelerates one’s creativity in times of trouble due to its mind-opening effects. Books enable readers to examine a vast array of solutions adopted by prior generations to issues similar to those confronting us. Self-confidence is the presence of mind acquired by thoughtful, extensive reading.
[4] Self-confidence requires a realistic assessment of efforts and time necessary to accomplish one’s goals. Insecure people tend to behave emotionally because of their unrealistic plans or expectations. They have a fuzzy perception of causality.
Reading provides the self-confidence of knowing the truth. I can point to Plutarch, Cicero or Cato, and their time perception when it comes to acquiring skills, achieving success, or healing a severe condition.
I can compare today’s problems to theirs in order to choose the right course of action. Self-reliance is strengthened by such comparisons, which are based on human nature, not on fashion or social pressure.
Montaigne was right in affirming that, in the long term, we become what we think, but I would add that reading enables us to think faster and more accurately. The ensuing self-reliance is a highly valuable asset difficult to acquire otherwise.
If you are interested in putting rational ideas into practice in all sort of situations, I recommend you my book “Undisrupted: How highly effective people deal with disruptions.”