Treat life well: N life philosophies for following happiness

Author: Michel de Montaigne [French]
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-03-01
Features: I actually know very well that whoever can, like me, make the benefit of enjoying life the purpose of life, should avoid the whims and pickiness of temperament as if avoiding the plague. I admire those with diverse personalities who can both stretch and relax, both rise and go with the flow (no matter where fate places them); they can chat with their neighbors about their houses, their hunting, and their disputes with others, and can also talk enthusiastically with a carpenter or gardener about the weather. How to Live combines book knowledge with life experience, with references scattered throughout, vast and free, and language simple, fluent, and vivid. With this work, Montaigne, along with Rabelais, laid the foundation for establishing French as a literary language and influenced a large group of writers such as Pascal, La Rochefoucauld, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Sainte-Beuve, René, and France. It is not easy to dislike Montaigne. Flaubert once recommended him to his depressed girlfriend: "Read Montaigne, it will calm you." Shakespeare also found inspiration in How to Live from time to time. Montaigne was renowned for his erudition, and How to Live was all-encompassing, covering everything, becoming a collection of various knowledge at the time. The Austrian cultural historian Friedrich believed that Montaigne seemed to want to know everything and could understand everything, while always smiling about it. "In most of his works, I see the man who wrote the book; in this one, I see the man of thought." Montesquieu once regarded Montaigne as one of the four great poets alongside Plato, Malherbe, and Shakespeare. At the end of the French Empire, the French Academy held an essay competition praising Montaigne, and the young Villermont won the prize; Béranger "read Montaigne over and over"; Debo· was obsessed with Montaigne's books, saying, "In that book, I saw the world: the poor, the slaves, the kings, I saw everything: did I see myself?" The Countess of Albany regarded How to Live as a "comfort"; Stendhal often referred to it while writing On Love; How to Live has become a testament to Montaigne's broad thoughts in writing. It is like a "philosophy of life," reflecting Montaigne's profound "self" while also reflecting on how later generations can live better.