It’s called “On Physiognomy” but there’s no good reason for the title, other than a fairly brief discussion of beauty and how Montaigne finds it hard to believe that Socrates was so ugly. The essay never addresses the concept of judging the character of someone from facial characteristics. But since Montaigne digresses over at least…

It’s fair to ask—why bother reading a 16th century French civil servants thoughts about himself, life and everything he’s read? To me, what makes Montaigne compelling is his universality. I’m struck by Montaigne’s ability to hone in on the timeless issues of existence, identifying personal conflicts just as relevant in the 21st century. Montaigne also…

This essay is about too many things at once, but I want to start with this interesting reveal about his own writing process: Every day I argue myself out of that childish and unkindly humour which makes us desire that our own ills should arouse compassion and mournful thoughts in those we love. So as…

Very often Montaigne’s titles tell us nothing about what we should expect in the essay, but in this case, the title is important. The essay isn’t about discourse, it’s about conversation or more precisely, agonistic conversation. The conversation Montaigne has in mind is lively and interactive. He hints at this in his Sebond essay, where…

Montaigne returns to the matter of him walking away from public life and argues that the ability to give up power is the greatest sign of internal strength: In general high rank has one obvious advantage: it can lay itself aside whenever it wants to; it is virtually free to choose either condition. All forms…

I haven’t given fair weight to how beautifully Montaigne begins this essay. Maybe it’s taken time for me to catch up with his feelings. I am older than Montaigne was when he wrote it, but I don’t share his physical state. I am in remarkably good physical shape, and not just comparative to my age….