John Vespasian

Category: Michel de Montaigne

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    Michel de Montaigne’s literary works and themes

    For twenty years, Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) spent a good part of his days writing his essays. He made no planning, organisation, or outline of the whole. Instead, he let his works grow organically and spontaneously. Eventually, he compiled his essays in volumes ready for publication. Montaigne’s literary themes have been identified by critics, not…

    John Vespasian

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    Michel de Montaigne and happiness

    To a great extent, happiness is the result of good philosophy accompanied by good implementation. Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) wrote essays for two decades with the sole goal of clarifying the path to happiness. He wanted to build himself a philosophy and a lifestyle conducive to happiness. What lessons did Montaigne learn during his two…

    John Vespasian

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    Michel de Montaigne’s advice on self-discipline

    There is very little benefit in telling people to do something without telling them how. I mean without telling them exactly how. Clear and precise instructions are the prerequisite of good implementation. Without those, success will depend on luck or serendipity. Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) was aware that morality and happiness depend on self-discipline. Nonetheless,…

    John Vespasian

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    Michel de Montaigne and self-discipline

    Life would be much easier if we could reduce ethics to just one concept. Would it not be great if we could make decisions and implementation plans that always hit the target? Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) took upon himself the task of reducing ethics to one concept, and he succeeded pretty well. Montaigne believed that…

    John Vespasian

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    Controversy in Michel de Montaigne’s wisdom

    Wisdom without controversy is soon forgotten, in the same way as one forgets unused knowledge, unused spare parts, and unused train tickets. Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) made a conscious decision to use controversy in his essays, precisely because he wanted the lessons to be learned and not forgotten. Besides, Montaigne found it much more interesting…

    John Vespasian

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    Michel de Montaigne and wisdom

    I have a simple definition of wisdom. It consists of just seven words. I define wisdom as “the habit of seeing what is hidden.” It is a short, but highly demanding definition, which disqualifies most mindless rituals and educated nonsense. Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) never quite managed to define wisdom, but his writings interpreted it…

    John Vespasian

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    Michel de Montaigne and free will

    When in doubt, it is wise to develop a theory and check if it matches the facts; experience will tell us if the theory is correct or if it needs revising. Trial and error can prove tiresome but it is the best of methods to figure out the truth. Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) wasn’t a…

    John Vespasian

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    The structure of Michel de Montaigne’s essays

    Nowadays, writers privilege structure above all. Before they write down the first word, they want to know precisely where they are going. They want to select in advance their destination and all the stops along the way. For writing his essays, Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) embraced a different approach; he managed to supply structure and…

    John Vespasian

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    How Michel de Montaigne wrote his essays

    In the vast critical commentary on the essays by Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), I haven’t found detailed explanations of Montaigne’s writing method. The question is intriguing and worth answering: Montaigne proved capable of producing dozens of high-quality essays, but he lacked sophisticated tools. He possessed a relatively small book collection, paper, ink, a feather, and…

    John Vespasian

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    The essays by Michel de Montaigne

    Imagine devoting two decades of your life to writing dozens of essays with no expectation of anyone ever reading them. For most people, such a perspective would not make sense. Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) thought otherwise. Why? Because he was primarily writing for himself. There were a few best-selling books in the sixteenth century but…

    John Vespasian

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