Michel de Montaigne and the art of living

When I analyse the biography of great individuals, I always focus on one question: What did they do to become great? My objective is to figure out exactly what they did differently than everybody else. The difference is what counts. Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) made it particularly clear that he wanted to differentiate himself from his peers. His vast literary achievements are not the result of luck. His philosophy is not the outcome of random circumstances, but of persistence and determination. I view Montaigne as a master in the art of living because of his unusually high productivity. Even with a busy professional life as a lawyer in Bordeaux, he read extensively and raised a family. Montaigne even found the time to travel abroad (Germany, Italy) for a year, and later occupied public office for four years. All those activities did not prevent him from becoming highly productive as an author. I’m going to summarise Montaigne’s art of living, especially the lessons that we can put into practice here and now. Montaigne limited the number of activities or tasks that he undertook. During his studies at the College de Guyenne, he did not spread himself too thin. Most of his study subjects revolved around Latin language, Latin authors, the basics of ancient Greek, history, philosophy, and arithmetic. Montaigne graduated at thirteen and enrolled in Law school, where he completed his legal studies in three years. He started working at sixteen as a legal apprentice, and five years later, he had qualified to practise as a lawyer. If Montaigne had consumed large amounts of entertainment or practised sports daily, he would have delayed his career by a long stretch. If we want to achieve important goals, the first we need to do is to focus, just as Montaigne had done. Over time, Montaigne grew extraordinarily self-reliant. I must underline that his self-confident mentality was as unusual in the sixteenth century as it is today. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/michel-de-montaigne-and-the-art-of-living/