Until recently, society used to hold old individuals in high regard. It was recognized that wisdom comes from experience, and that learning from other people’s mistakes is more practical than making our own.

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) made it his life’s mission to compile the wisdom of the past. He devoted twenty years of his life to writing essays, condensing the wisdom of Aristotle (384-322 BC), Seneca (4 BC-65 AD), and other ancient Greek and Roman sources.

It is fair to ask whether the lessons from ancient authors are still relevant today. In fact, people had asked the same question in the sixteenth century, when Montaigne was researching and writing his essays.

Montaigne had not failed to ask himself this question, but he was very particular in the way he looked for answers. Since he had fallen prey to delusions all too often, he always wanted to consider both sides of any issue.

Even if he felt pretty certain of the answer, he would still go through the arguments that contradicted his views. He enjoyed playing devil’s advocate against himself and wouldn’t proclaim victory until he had disarmed his intellectual opponents.

Montaigne’s optimism relies on wisdom

“The aim of life is to live happily and serenely,” Montaigne wrote, but this is only possible if we are aware of what we are doing. Like Aristotle in his “Nicomachean Ethics,” Montaigne regarded happiness as the goal, and philosophy as the path.

Montaigne considered wisdom as the shortcut to happiness, in particular the wisdom from ancient sources and old people. In his essay “On experience,” he reaffirms the importance of learning from our personal history and from history in general.

“We learned best through trial and error,” noted Montaigne, “because that’s the natural way to learn.” He recalls that it took him some falls to learn horse-riding, but as he progressed, the falls became rarer. He eventually grew skilful enough to ride without thinking.

Nonetheless, life is too short to learn everything through our own experience. We can benefit vastly from the experience of other people, learn from their mistakes and improve the quality of our decisions. If we decline to do so, we will inevitably pay the price in terms of errors, suffering and financial losses.

Michel de Montaigne’s essay “On experience”

What are the most important lessons that Montaigne himself had learned from the past? In his essay “On experience,” he is mentioning two crucial lessons from history.

Let us pass review to those lessons because they prove the importance of learning from the past, in particular, by reading Montaigne’s essays and the wisdom condensed therein.

First, the daily habit of reflecting can make us wiser, points out Montaigne. He recounts that the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD) had imposed upon himself the practice of writing a philosophical diary.

Marcus Aurelius didn’t bother to record little anecdotes, but only abstract conclusions. He wanted to learn from the errors, victories and setbacks of each day, so that he could do better in the future. Marcus Aurelius’ diaries were later published under the title “Meditations.”

Montaigne must have read Marcus Aurelius’ “Meditations” many times, since he knew some passages by heart. He used them profusely in his essays, commented on them, and applied them to novel situations.

Second, wisdom drawn from history helps us formulate today’s goals better. If we study the errors from the past, we can avoid repeating them. Our context is different, but human experience has not fundamentally changed.

Montaigne mentions the Persian King Xerxes, who is said to have broken down in tears, realising that he would be unable to keep hold of the territories he had conquered in Greece at a high cost.

Xerxes had set himself unrealistic goals. He had expected to conquer Greece quickly, invade the whole territory and enslave the population. He had been surprised by the valour, resilience, and military skills of the Greek.

Michel de Montaigne’s passion for wisdom

Montaigne also knew people who had overestimated their resources or possibilities, and who had ended up badly. Xerxes had taught us the lesson, and then Montaigne had formulated it beautifully.

Personal and historical experience develops our intellectual sharpness in ways that are not possible otherwise. Montaigne mentions that King Philip II of Macedon only appointed very experienced persons to important positions. He simply did not trust inexperienced people.

“I am convinced that the best type of knowledge is the one drawn from experience,” concluded Montaigne. That’s because each lesson is the outcome of trial and error. It condenses what prior generations had learned, often by paying a high price.

Like in Montaigne’s sixteenth-century France, people today complain that they do not have to read. They want quick action and immediate gains. That’s what Xerxes wanted centuries ago and he did not end up too well.

Montaigne’s essays ask us to make a pause to figure things out. On every page, they reaffirm the value of wisdom and the foolishness of haste. I could not imagine a better argument for their permanent relevance.

If you are interested in applying rational principles to issues and situations of all sorts, I recommend you my book “The 10 principles of rational living.”