• Michel de Montaigne’s biography (5 of 5): joy until the last minute

  • May 8 2025
  • Duración: 6 m
  • Podcast

Michel de Montaigne’s biography (5 of 5): joy until the last minute

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  • Some people are so afraid of dying that they waste hundreds of hours trying to protect themselves against the normal risks of life. They fear catching the flu, falling from their bicycle, or eating too much meat; as a result, they restrain their lifestyle in the vain hope of living a little bit longer. Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), after a long reflection, made the opposite choice. Instead of being paralysed by fear, he remained extremely active. Instead of worrying, he focused on his favourite activities. I admire in particular his decision to travel to Paris after his fifty-fifth birthday, suffering from chronic kidney pain. Even in our century, few individuals at that age keep pushing resolutely to develop their careers, especially something as uncertain as a literary career. In Paris, Montaigne met for the first time his admirer Marie de Gournay, who was twenty-three years old at that time. They hit it off immediately, intellectually, and Montaigne started to refer to Marie as “my adopted daughter.” Montaigne was speaking metaphorically since he never took any steps to adopt Marie, nor had she asked for any adoption. Marie was the daughter of a minor aristocrat, who had passed away when she was twelve, leaving Marie, her sisters and their mother in a precarious financial condition. The relationship between Montaigne and Marie de Gournay lasted three and a half years. I count those years as the happiest in Montaigne’s life. Why? Because, for the first time since the death of his best friend Etienne de La Boetie, Montaigne had met a kindred soul, someone who understood him perfectly and with whom he could converse for hours on end. Note that twenty-five years had elapsed between La Boetie’s death and the first time that Montaigne met Marie de Gournay. When meeting Marie in Paris, Montaigne was taken aback by the resemblance of their conversations (in terms of breadth and depth) with those he had held with La Boetie. Despite their age difference, Montaigne and Marie shared a key personality trait: to a large extent, both were self-educated. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/michel-de-montaignes-biography-5-of-5-joy-until-the-last-minute/
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