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How to Live--or--a Life of Montaigne

in One Question and Twenty Attempts at An Answer
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Mar 13, 2016lukasevansherman rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
"Lend yourself to others, but give yourself to yourself." Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) was a nobleman, a wine-maker, and a government official, but he is remembered for his series of essays, which explored everything from friendship to cannibalism. In these essays, we see glimmers of a distinctive temperament and a probing intelligence that was interested in just about everything. His approach to subjects--idiosyncratic, curious, un-dogmatic--is pretty much the blueprint for the personal essay. Sarah Bakewell's absorbing book is both a biography and a look at Montaigne's philosophy on life. Montaigne emerges as someone who, in an age of fear, violence, and religious fanaticism, was moderate, rational, and open to everything around him. One could do far worse than to try and emulate Montaigne.