Michel de Montaigne: The Wisdom of an Unfinished Life
Few writers have spoken so honestly about the human condition as Michel de Montaigne. Four centuries after his death, his essays still feel startlingly contemporary. They offer the record of a thoughtful man attempting to understand himself and, through himself, something about humanity. Born in 1533 in the southwest of France, Montaigne lived during a period of profound instability. Religious wars between Catholics and Protestants tore apart French society. Political violence was common. Certainties that had guided Europe for centuries were beginning to fracture. In such a world many thinkers sought new foundations. Montaigne chose a different path. Rather than searching for certainty, he turned his attention inward. His great work, the Essays , began as a personal experiment. The word "essay" itself comes from the French essai , meaning an attempt or trial. Montaigne was not constructing a system. He was trying things out. He examined friendship, death, fear, education,...
