This is one of those early Montaigne essays that seems highly out of date due to the focus on anxient military tactics. My first time around, I filibustered by ranging over several tangential points, from something Paul Krugman wrote that morning to an observation about Malcolm Lowry’s UNDER THE VOLCANO. What that novel has to do with this essay is nothing – I probably was just reading it at the same time.
You could sum up everything essential in this essay from its first eight words:
Like all other virtues valour has its limits
Thanks Michel … let’s move on to the next piece.
But that’s probably not fair. He goes on to make this intersting point that applies to more than just military tactics:
A man may go right through the dwelling-place of valour into rashness, stubbornness and madness if he does not know where those boundaries lie: yet at their margins they are not easy to pick out.
Boundaries are an issue I struggle with, mostly because in my experience, setting boundaries often leaves me feeling isolated and alone. It’s so much easier to keep a relationship going with someone when you let them walk all over you, so it’s tempting to give in to everything and just consider it the cost of staying connected.
But that’s not really what Montaigne is saying here. He’s not concerned about boundaries that protect safety, he warns us against embracing a form of personal zealotry and caring so much about promoting your valor that you end up taking foolish risks. To prove his point, Montaigne writes:
A man could justly be obstinate when faced with a couple of culverins who would be out of his mind if he resisted thirty cannons.
A culverin, by the way, was a very crude early form of musket that was very difficult to use effectively, so some gallantry in the face of it was in order.
I don’t have much else to add here … not only unless I want to digress in my own way, but I will save that for other subjects.
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