This essay is a great example of one of Montaigne’s most interesting methods — making a strong declarative statement up front, then taking up most of the essay with counterexamples. The first two paragraphs build to this assertion:
we lend our goods and our lives to the needs of our friends; but to communicate one’s honor and to share one’s glory with others is rarely seen.
But then Montaigne gives us a handful of vivid examples where people performed remarkably generous acts, including a military leader, having failed to keep his troops from deserting, decided to pretend to desert himself so his command would be seen following his orders rather than committing treason.
It’s actually far more common in the world we live in for great, heroic acts to be performed by people who will never be recognized for the work or their sacrifice. People give their ideas, their time, their words to others, and as long as they are paid for it, very rarely complain about it.
In this sly way, this essay becomes another commentary on Montaigne’s view of power, that it is often something given randomly to someone who insists on it, undeservedly. The real power lies with the uncredited mass who stands behind and fights for that person, in numerous unthanked ways.
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