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The peasantry … were the true philosophers of the modern world, the heirs to classical sages such as Seneca and Socrates. Only they knew how to live, precisely because they knew nothing much about anything else.

— Sarah Bakewell How to Live, or, A Life of Montaigne in one Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer (2010)

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More quotes by Sarah Bakewell

From now on, Montaigne would live for himself rather than for duty.

How to Live, or, A Life of Montaigne in one Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer (2010)

Learning should be a pleasure, and children should grow up to imagine wisdom with a smiling face, not a fierce and terrifying one.

How to Live, or, A Life of Montaigne in one Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer (2010)

The philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty called Montaigne a writer who put “a consciousness astonished at itself at the core of human existence.”

How to Live, or, A Life of Montaigne in one Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer (2010)

As Seneca put it, life does not pause to remind you that it is running out. The only one who can keep you mindful of this is you.

How to Live, or, A Life of Montaigne in one Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer (2010)

The hedonistic approach to education did make a difference to him [Montaigne]. Having been guided early in life by his own curiosity alone, he grew up to be an independent-minded adult, following his own path in everything rather than deferring to duty and discipline.

How to Live, or, A Life of Montaigne in one Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer (2010)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Sarah Bakewell (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.