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Michel Montaigne, a well-known Renaissance philosopher and thinker, was born in 1533.
In his words, the main way of life of his life was seclusion.
But he was actually well-educated, having studied law, worked as a judge for more than a decade, and later served two terms as mayor of Bordeaux.
All this is due to the fact that he had a good father who was quite productive and attached great importance to education, Montaigne's father, who made a fortune in the wine business and had a huge fortune, bought a large number of territories, and entered politics and became the mayor of the city.
It can be said that Montaigne's achievements are all inherited from his father, but he relied entirely on his own efforts in literature and ideology, because his father did not understand culture.
And Montaigne's life experience also made him not like those noble descendants of his generation, immersed in pleasure all day long, he had a career.
During his education, he also came into contact with many excellent mentors.
During his time as a judge, he adjudicated countless cases, experienced human suffering, and knew that the life of ordinary people was not easy.
Therefore, he can feel the deepest pain and sorrow in human emotions to the greatest extent, and understand human nature to the greatest extent.
"Montaigne's Essays" is actually an essay note of Montaigne who lived in seclusion in his manor when he was in his twilight years, when he was no longer interested in the world, because during his time as a judge, he had disagreements with the local legal profession, and finally withdrew from this field, and only wanted to devote himself to writing.
When Montaigne was a judge, he preferred to fail the court to his conscience and the truth, and he was quite opposed to cruel punishments, and from his collection of essays, we can also see his compassion for the human and the weak.
In Montaigne's Essays, there is a sentence: "I have seen with my own eyes how many sentences are more criminal than the crimes of criminals." ”
After he retired from the legal profession and politics, he lived a reclusive life, and in his opinion, although these lives were ordinary, he did not have the respect and support of the past, but they were the most beautiful.
Montaigne's way of writing, and his writing style, is also quite unique and unusual, which is different from many writers in the past.
When it comes to writing, he advocates simplicity and freedom.
In terms of simplicity, he believes: "Any beautiful description and portrayal will be overshadowed by the unpretentious truth." ”
Writing should be like ordinary speaking, say whatever comes to mind, do not need to be pretentious and deliberately look for chapters and sentences, and find some gorgeous words, and express everything in your heart, of course, the premise is to have deep thoughts.
In terms of freedom, in fact, from the time of his youth, Montaigne admired the writings of a teacher or his friend, a teacher named Plutarch, who, in his opinion, Plutarch's essays were rambling and unorganized, as if they had forgotten the subject, but they were self-contained, but they were fascinating.
Montaigne praised this style: "The whimsical digression, the unpredictable changes in the chapters, is really beautiful, it seems to be written casually, it is written, but it is interesting." ”
Many authors in today's era may be inspired by this.
Because many authors feel that it is becoming more and more difficult to write articles, and even feel that it is a pain to start writing, precisely because they limit themselves to a certain form, they themselves limit their imagination, and let their writing be limited.
If you can really do it, like Montaigne, you will focus on improving your own profound thoughts, digging into the themes of life, and refining the profound themes.
Instead of thinking about how to pile up flowery words, dig out the hollow to make sentences, and make the article look beautiful and empty in substance.
Then, writing will no longer be a chore.
At the same time, it is definitely a deep text.
The casualness of Montaigne's writing, as well as the profundity of the ideas he expressed, can be said to be quite vividly reflected in the collection of Montaigne's Essays.
The brushwork is criss-crossed, and there is no fixed pattern, let alone routine, and even often digresses, but this is the so-called "form is scattered but the spirit is not scattered".
There are many ideological essences in "Montaigne's Essays", which are worthy of continuous excavation and enlightenment by future generations, and here I would like to share the following points with you:
The first point: the most important thing people need to do is to know themselves, examine themselves, and observe themselves, so that they can make their life development direction not deviate from the track.
Montaigne regards self-observation as the first priority in life.
In his opinion, everyone must evaluate and evaluate themselves in a fair manner, but many people make the mistake of overestimating themselves and underestimating themselves.
If a person can be prepared to evaluate himself and know himself, then his quality of life will be better, and the world around him will be better because of him.
In his view, not being able to know oneself correctly is the greatest ignorance.
The second point: everyone's lifestyle is different, there are hundreds or even thousands of these lifestyles, and it is necessary to respect the lifestyles and attitudes of others.
He believes that one must not ask others to live their own way of life, nor should they be asked to think about everything with their own minds.
Because of this, he will not be surprised by any kind of opinion and opinion, he can accept and respect any kind of faith, and any kind of voice will not make him angry.
Whether it is his relatives, the people around him, or his colleagues in the court, or the criminals who accepted his verdict, etc., he tries his best to let the other party express his opinions and ideas, truly respect others, and give others real freedom.
In fact, this point is also worth learning, a person, to respect others, then he himself will be more respected, because of this, Montaigne can be in his lifetime, two consecutive terms of mayor.
The third point: Montaigne advocates living an ordinary life, not a life that is too utilitarian.
In his opinion, ordinary life is not so-so, you must live every day seriously, but you must follow your heart to live.
It is inappropriate to wronged oneself because of the utilitarianism of one's heart, to do something that should not be done, and to suffer suffering.
For everyone, doing what is in line with their nature and doing what they can do is happiness in life. If something goes against one's nature, doing such a thing is forcing oneself, and in the long run, it is living one's life in a way that you don't like.
Montaigne once said, "The greatest habit of my life is to live a lazy and lazy life, and never allow myself to do too much in pursuit of success." ”
Some readers may think that Montaigne, because of his privileged family, inherited all the property left to him by his father, and that he did not have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of his life, and that he could certainly choose his own way of life and whatever he wanted.
But in fact, Montaigne was given a strict upbringing in his youth, and he had to become a judge in order to support himself, because before his father died, he was asked to earn a living by working and be completely financially independent.
And when Montaigne was a judge, he could actually have more opportunities for development.
In addition, he served two terms as mayor, but did not continue to develop in politics, but chose to retire, which reflects his attitude towards life, not being served by utilitarianism, not greedy for power and fame.
Otherwise, he might have become a more influential figure, not just a thinker and a philosopher, leaving behind a book to be passed down to the generations.
Of course, then he would have lived a more tired life, and he would not be able to devote himself to writing and writing such an immortal masterpiece.
Fourth, with books as a companion, reading is regarded as the greatest pleasure in life and the main way of life.
The biggest difference between Montaigne and his father is that his father did not read much, but he was very interested in culture, and he was influenced by his father from an early age, which made him love literature.
Because of this, his father was only successful in business and politics, but he himself became a world-renowned philosopher, writer, and thinker.
Montaigne does not have any purpose in studying, unlike today's young people, who have to study in order to get a promotion, to prepare for exams, or to make money.
He sees reading as a pastime, no matter what kind of subject he has.
In his opinion, the most important thing is to make reading enjoyable and to get real pleasure from it.
And the biggest effect of books on him is that they can push him to think, so that he can reach a higher level of thought, and he becomes a philosopher, in fact, he is self-taught.
In Montaigne's Essays, there are also some new ideas about education, and he explores the many problems that existed in the education system at that time.
He criticized scholasticism for lacking children's unique personality, and he also believed that book education was impractical, opposed rote learning, and advocated that children should acquire knowledge through conversations with various people and through what they saw and heard during their own travels.
It can be said that the essence of Montaigne's thought is inspiring to modern people's learning style, work attitude, and life and other aspects.
If you read these words left by him carefully, you may be able to discover a lot of truths, and I suggest you take a look at his book.
Finally, I excerpt some classic quotes and share them with you:
"True freedom is an inner peace and composure that comes from a deep awareness of oneself and the world. ”
"The greatest profession is to protect the welfare of the masses and to the benefit of the majority. ”
"Material deficiencies can be easily compensated, but the poverty of the soul cannot be remedied. ”
"If I were allowed to live my life again, I would like to repeat my life, because I have never regretted the past and have no fear of the future. ”
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