Montaigne

"Je suis moy-mesmes la matiere de mon livre."
-Michel de Montaigne

It is a warning Montaigne gives to his readers. He is saying that he is himself the subject of his book, and that it is a waste of time for anyone to read it. Yet, his essays were placed on the Catholic index of prohibited books, they are read across the world as timeless observations of a temperant and open mind, and they are by no means a waste in my own governance of my time. Montaigne's essays are an amazing attempt at exploring the mind, and a great example of how a mind can be open to so many things, make so many observations, and seem so timeless. The questions he asked are still asked today, and I despair at the fact that such clear expression can be interpreted in so many ways. I went to a lecture about Sextus Empiricus and Montaigne, and the interpretation of Montaigne was that of a skeptic arguing that Montaigne less than straightforward in his writings against the explicit statement of Montaigne himself. Of course, this isn't anything against the person's interpretation because I myself believe that we all have our own perceptions of anything presented to us, and that it is our own responsibility to make those perceptions agreeable with the greater realm of understanding that surrounds us. Having an argument with some friends of mine, I came to the realization that no matter what amount of reason and logic that I believed I was presenting, they believed that I was just "bullshitting" them and they were being wronged by my assertions. I was frustrated by the outcome, but after reflection, I could not help but feel that it was my own fault that I could not present the argument in a way that seemed rational to them. If it was I that wished to make some assertion, then it was my own responsibility to make that assertion presentable to those around me. It makes one wonder what the mind means to those around me and to someone like Montaigne.