More than as a philosopher, writer, humanist, statesman and father of the modern essayto Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) you are reminded as “the most classic of the modern and the most modern of the classics.” And that’s not just any title. The Frenchman knew how to incarnate like few others the spirit of the Renaissancea turbulent time politically and optimistic intellectually, an era of discoveries in which man vindicated himself as center and measure of the universe.
Montaigne not only tuned in to that philosophical torrent. He did it with his own, personal style, which he maintained despite not exactly arousing passions among his contemporaries. He didn’t seem to care much either. “I myself am the subject of my book: there is no reason for you to occupy your leisure in such a frivolous and vain subject,” wrote in the preface of his ‘Essays’anticipating possible indignant readers with a tone halfway between pride and (false?) modesty.
Another ESO philosopher?
Today the name of Montaigne perhaps sounds extemporaneous, ‘one of so many (so many) philosophers who dusts himself off from time to time to recapture witty phrases’, it could be argued. It’s not like that. Although he wrote his works ago more than four centuriesthe words of the French humanist continue to have rabid validity. His form may sound old, but once you review the background and even the reason for his words, they fit in 2026 like a glove.
The teacher remembered it a few years ago. Sarah Bakewell in the wonderful book he dedicated to Montaigne. In the 16th century, the French intellectual promoted an approach that will sound very normal to any reader/writer/network user, but was not so normal in the Europe of four centuries ago: “Write about oneself to create a mirror in which other people could recognize their humanity.”
“Unlike most memorialists of his time, he did not write to record his great feats and achievements. Nor did he write an eyewitness account of historical events, although he could have done so,” Bakewell claims. “A member of a generation stripped of the hopeful idealism enjoyed by his father’s contemporaries, he endured public suffering by focusing his attention on his private life.”
The other reason for Montaigne’s validity is what led him to write. Or rather, what question did he seek to clarify every time he sat down with pen in hand to write down his torrent of reflections. Although it could deal with different topics, in its “very free” pages, the same question always arises, which is still as relevant today as in 1580: How the hell do we live? How to manage our days to enjoy a full, honest and satisfying life?
With such a history it will be better understood that a few days ago he turned to the pages of Montaigne in search of answers to one of the great challenges of our time: polarization“the background noise of our public life and an uncomfortable presence in our private one,” as I defined it in December More in Common, an organization that has dedicated itself to monitoring the tension.
It may sound exaggerated, but according to your data 14% of Spaniards Has broken any relationship with family or friends in the last year for no more and no less than that: apparently unresolvable discussions about political issues.
In a country where a quarter (25%) of those surveyed claim to have felt “attacked” or very “criticized” for expressing their ideas and 65% admit that we live in a fragmented society, how on earth do we deal with tension? How to calm the debate with almost half of the population immersed in ‘echo chambers’ in which practically everyone around them thinks the same or in a very similar way? Does Montaigne have any advice from 16th century France?
The answer is in the most famous work from French, Essays (available by the way on the Cervantes Virtual Library website). Over there, at first From the first chapter of the third book, as a highlighted phrase, Montaigne leaves us an aphorism as resounding as it is appropriate for the problem at hand:
“No one is free to say stupid things, the bad thing is to say them with emphasis.”
The translations may vary (not all of them are so foul-mouthed), but the bottom line is always the same. Next, the author slips in another Latin phrase inspired by Terence: “This man has said great nonsense with great effort.”
What does Montaigne want to tell us?
That we can all make mistakes. Even the wisest ones. Even himself, so when it comes to sitting down to confront ideas there are three words that should not be forgotten. Three words that sound like a vaccine in times of tension.
Honesty.
Moderation.
Prudence.
“A man of excellent habits can harbor fake opinions; a wicked man to preach the truth, even to him who does not believe in it,” writes the humanist after reminding us that “saying” is something very different from “doing” and it is often useful to analyze separately the preacher and what he preaches.
Throughout his ‘Essays’ Montaigne even reminds the reader: “There have never been two identical opinions in the world, nor have there been two identical hairs, nor two identical grains. The most universal quality of those is diversity.”
Does that mean that everything is relative or that ideas cannot be discussed? At all. The important thing, Montaigne seems to remember from his desk illuminated by candlelight, is to keep in mind that not even the wisest of the wise is free from making mistakes and saying “stupid things.” And nothing happens because that happens.
The important thing is how these ideas are presented (“say them with emphasis”). His work is splashed of similar messages connected with Stoicism, as when he reminds: “True freedom consists in absolute self-control.”
A vaccine against tension at a time when public debate is pulling at the seams of society and we seem more willing than ever (remember that 14% of Spaniards who have ‘broken up’ with relatives and friends due to ideology) to give up on a relationship simply due to political differences. Remember, “no one is free,” Michel de Montaigne whispers to us from the pages of his ‘Essays’.
Images | Clem Onojeghuo (Unsplash), Wikipedia
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings