How to Live (54 page)

1
On the combination of the Hellenistic philosophies in Montaigne and in general, see Hadot.

2
Translations of
eudaimonia
and
ataraxia:
Nussbaum 15, except
ataraxia
as “freedom from disturbance and anxiety,” which comes from Popkin xv.

3
Pacuvius: Seneca,
Letters to Lucilius
, Letter 12. Loeb edn I:71. Lucretius’s two possibilities, cited by Montaigne: I:20 78. Source is Lucretius,
De rerum natura
III: 938–42.

4
Pretend you never had it: Plutarch, “In consolation to his wife,”
Moralia
. Loeb edn VII:610. Pretend you have lost it: Plutarch, “On Tranquillity of Mind,”
Moralia
. Loeb edn VI: 469–70.

5
Seeing the world as it is: Seneca,
Letters to Lucilius
, Letter 78. Loeb edn II:199.

6
Questions asked all of a sudden: Epictetus,
Discourses
II:16 2–3 and III:8 1–5, cited Hadot 85. Living “appropriately”: III:13 1037.

7
“How good it is”: Marcus Aurelius,
Meditations
, tr. M. Hammond (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2006), 47 (VI:13). Flying up to the heavens: ibid. 120 (XII:24).

8
“Place before your mind’s eye”: Seneca,
Letters to Lucilius
, Letter 99. Loeb edn III: 135.

9
Eternal recurrence: This idea found in Nemesius
De natura hominis
XXXVII: 147–8, Plato,
Timaeus
39d, and Cicero,
De natura deorum
II:20. See White, Michael J., “Stoic natural philosophy (physics and cosmology),” in Inwood, B. (ed.),
Cambridge Companion to the Stoics
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 124–52, and Barnes, J., “La Doctrine du retour éternel,” in
Les Stoïciens et leur logique. Actes du colloque de Chantilly 18–22 septembre 1976
(Paris, 1978), 3–20. The idea was developed further by Friedrich Nietzsche: see e.g. Nietzsche,
The Gay Science
, s. 341, and Stambaugh, J.,
Nietzsche’s Thought of Eternal Return
(Washington, DC: Center for Advanced Research in Phenomenology & University Press of America, 1988).

10
“Do not seek”: Epictetus,
Manual
VIII: as cited and translated in Hadot 136.

11
“If I had to live over again”: III:2 751–2.

12
Seneca’s asthma attacks: Seneca,
Letters to Lucilius
, Letter 54. Loeb edn I:363–5.

13
Lycas and Thrasylaus: II:12 444. Lycas story from Erasmus,
Adages
no. 1981: “In nihil sapiendo iucundissima vita.” Thrasylaus story from Aelian,
Various Histories
IV: 25.

14
“A painful notion”: III:4 770.

15
Consoling the widow: III:4 765.

16
“I was once afflicted”: III:4 769.

17
“I let the passion alone”: III:4 769.

18
“Gently sidestep”: III:5 775.

19
Zaleucus: I:43 239. Source is Diodorus Siculus,
Bibliotheca historica
XII: V: 21.

20
“Don’t bother your head”: III:12 979. “Our thoughts are always elsewhere” and “barely brushing the crust”: III:4 768.

21
Pasquier to A. M. de Pelgé, 1619, in Pasquier,
Choix de lettres
45–6, as translated in Frame,
Montaigne
283. Raemond,
Erreur populaire
159. Expilly, C., sonnet in Goulart edition of Montaigne’s
Essais
(1595), and in
Poèmes
(Paris: A. L’Angelier, 1596), cited in Boase,
Fortunes
10.

22
“We are, I know not how, double within ourselves”: II:16 570. The idea of an internalized La Boétie was first explored by Michel Butor in
Essais sur les
Essais (1968).

23
Montaigne might have published letters instead: I:40 225. Master/slave relationship: Wilden, A., “Par divers Moyens on arrive à pareille fin: a reading of Montaigne,”
Modern Language Notes
83 (1968), 577–97, esp. 590.

24
“Assiduously collected”: Montaigne’s dedicatory epistle to La Boétie’s “Vers françois” in his edition of La Boétie’s works: La Boétie,
La Mesnagerie
[etc]. The epistle is in
The Complete Works
, tr. D. Frame, 1298.

25
Sebond translation: II:12 387–8. The original was Sebond, R. de,
Theologia naturalis, sive liber creaturarum
(Deventer: R. Pafraet, 1484); translated by Montaigne as Sebond,
Théologie naturelle
(Paris: G. Chaudière, 1569). On Sebond, see Habert, M., “Sebond, Raimond,” in Desan,
Dictionnaire
898–900.

26
“Being by chance at leisure”: II:12 388. On the time he took, see Montaigne’s dedicatory epistle to his father, in
The Complete Works
, tr. D. Frame, 1289.

27
“Apology for Raymond Sebond”: II:12 386–556. Marguerite de Valois apparently asked Montaigne to write it some time around 1578–79, after reading his translation. See E. Naya, “Apologie de Raimond Sebond,” in Desan,
Dictionnaire
50–4, esp. 51. On this work in general, see Blum, C. (ed.),
Montaigne: Apologie de Raymond Sebond: de la
“
Theologia” à la
“
Théologie”
(Paris: H. Champion, 1990).

28
“As the rope”: Cons, L.,
Anthologie littéraire de la Renaissance française
(New York: Holt, 1931), 143, as translated in Frame,
Montaigne
170.

1
Estienne: he tells this story in the introduction to his edition of Sextus Empiricus,
Sexti Philosophi Pyrrhoniarum Hypotyposeon libri III
, ed. H. Estienne. ([Geneva]: H. Stephanus, 1562), 4–5. Hervet’s encounter is related in Popkin 33–4.

2
“I hold back”: II:12 454. On Pyrrhonian Skepticism as transmitted to and by Montaigne, see Bailey; Popkin; and Nussbaum.

3
Grains of sand: Bailey 21–2.

4
Three statements of the
epokhe:
Sextus Empiricus,
Outlines of Skepticism
49–51 (Book I: 196, 197, and 202 respectively).

5
“If you postulate”: II:12 452.

6
Moore, T.,
Poetical Works
, ed. A. D. Godley (London: H. Frowde, Oxford University Press, 1910), 278.

7
Stories about Pyrrho: II:29 647–8. Source for all these stories, both of his indifference and of his failure to maintain it, is Diogenes Laertius,
Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers
X:52–4.

8
“He did not want to make himself a stump,” and “regimenting, arranging, and fixing truth”: II:12 454.

9
Montaigne’s medals or
jetons:
one copy survives in a private collection. His own description of it: II:12 477. See Demonet, M.-L.,
A Plaisir: sémiotique et skepticisme chez Montaigne
(Orléans: Editions Paradigme, 2002), esp. 35–77.

10
“Soften and moderate”: III:11 959. The puniness of knowledge and the astoundingness of the world: III:6 841. “Unassumingness” and “Deep need to be surprised”: Friedrich 132, 130.

11
“My footing is so unsteady”: II:12 516–17. On his changing opinions: II:12 514.

12
Effects of fever, medicine, or a cold: II:12 515–16. Socrates raving: II:2 302 and II:12 500. “All philosophy … raving mad” and “The philosophers, it seems to me”: II:12 501.

13
Animals see colors differently: II:12 550. We may need eight or ten senses: II:12 541–2. We may be cut off by our nature from seeing things as they are: II:12 553.

14
“We, and our judgment”: II:12 553.

15
“Become wise at our own expense”: II:12 514.

16
“We must really strain our soul”: III:13 1034. Taking pleasure in memory lapses: III:13 1002.

17
On the Church’s approval of Pyrrhonian Skepticism: Popkin 3–6, 34.

18
“An extraordinary infusion”: II:12 390. Church had the right to police his thoughts: I:56 278.

19
“Otherwise I could not keep myself”: II:12 521.

20
Cats hypnotizing birds: in Montaigne’s time, an interest in such powers of the “imagination” often coincided with disbelief in witches and demons, for it provided an alternative explanation for strange phenomena. “I plunge head down”: III:9 902. This passage was criticized in Arnauld, A. and Nicole, P.,
La Logique ou l’art de penser
(Paris: C. Savreux, 1662). See Friedrich 287. “Don’t crucify people”: Quint 74.

21
Inquisition: “Travel Journal,” in
The Complete Works
, tr. D. Frame, 1166. On providence, see Poppi, A., “Fate, fortune, providence, and human freedom,” in Schmitt, C. et al. (eds),
The Cambridge History of Renaissance Philosophy
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), 641–67.

22
Fortification against heresy: Raemond,
Erreur populaire
159–60. “Beautiful Apology” and “Strange things of which we do not know the reason”: Raemond,
L’Antichrist
20–1. On Raemond, see Magnien-Simonin, C., “Raemond, Florimond de,” in Desan,
Dictionnaire
849–50.

23
The parrotfish and other examples of cooperation: II:12 427–8. Mathematical tuna fish: II:12 428. Repentant elephant: II:12 429. The halcyon: II:12 429–30. Octopuses and chameleons: II:12 418.

24
“A hare without fur or bones”: II:12 430–1.

25
Bossuet, J.-B.,
Troisième Sermon pour la fête de tous les saints
(1668), cited in Boase,
Fortunes
414.

26
Descartes on animals: Discourse 5 of his
Discourse on Method
(1637) is devoted to this subject. See Gontier, T.,
De l’Homme à l’animal: Montaigne et Descartes ou les paradoxes de la philosophie moderne sur la nature des animaux
(Paris: Vrin, 1998), and his “D’un Paradoxe à l’autre: l’intelligence des bêtes chez Montaigne et les animaux-machines chez Descartes,” in Faye, E. (ed.),
Descartes et la Renaissance
(Paris: H. Champion, 1999) 87–101.

27
“When I play with my cat”: II:12 401. “We entertain each other with reciprocal monkey tricks”: II:12 401n. This passage appeared in the posthumous 1595 edition and is excluded from some modern editions (see Chapter 18 above).

28
“All of Montaigne”: Lüthy 28. The article: Michel, P., “La Chatte de Montaigne, parmi les chats du XVIe siècle,”
Bulletin de la Société des Amis de Montaigne
29 (1964), 14–18. The dictionary entry: Shannon, L., “Chatte de Montaigne,” in Desan,
Dictionnaire
162.

29
“The defect” and “We have some mediocre understanding”: II:12 402.

30
Descartes’s crisis by the stove: Descartes,
Discourse on Method
35–9 (Discourse 2).

31
Descartes’s argument is put forward in his
Discourse on Method
and
Meditations
. “Everything I perceive clearly and distinctly cannot fail to be true”:
Meditations
148–9 (Meditation 5).

32
“The Meditation of yesterday”: Descartes,
Meditations
102 (Meditation 2).

33
The evil demon: Descartes,
Meditations
100 (Meditation 1). Demons in clouds, and altering threads of brain: Clark 163. God as deceiver: Descartes,
Meditations
98 (Meditation 1). See Popkin 187.

34
“We are, I know not how”: II:16 570. “We have no communication with being”: II:12 553.

35
Pascal’s “FIRE” notes, dated 1654: cited Coleman, F. X. J.,
Neither Angel nor Beast
(New York & London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986), 59–60.

36
“Spirit of geometry”: Pascal, B.,
De l’Esprit géométrique
[etc.] (Paris: Flammarion, 1999).

37
“The great adversary”: Eliot 157.

38
Futility of fighting Pyrrhonism: Pascal,
Pensées
no. 164, p. 41.

39
“He puts everything into a universal doubt” and “so advantageously positioned”: Pascal, “Discussion with M. de Sacy,” in
Pensées
183–5.

40
“Of all authors”: Eliot 157.

41
“It is not in Montaigne”:
Pascal: Pensées
no. 568, p. 131.

42
Montaigne:
“How we cry and laugh”: I:38 208.
Pascal:
“Hence we cry and laugh”: Pascal,
Pensées
no. 87, p. 22.
Montaigne:
“They want to get out of themselves”: III:13 1044.
Pascal:
“Man is neither angel nor beast”: Pascal,
Pensées
no. 557, p. 128.
Montaigne:
“Put a philosopher in a cage”: II:12 546.
Pascal:
“If you put the world’s greatest philosopher on a plank”: Pascal,
Pensées
no. 78, p. 17.

43
“A bad case of indigestion”: Bloom, H.,
The Western Canon
(London: Papermac, 1996), 150. Borges, J. L., “Pierre Menard, author of the
Quixote,”
in
Fictions
(Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1999), 33–43.

44
“We have such a high idea”: Pascal,
Pensées
no. 30, p. 9. “It seems to me”: I:50 268.

45
“Whoever looks at himself”: Pascal,
Pensées
no. 230, pp. 66–7. “On contemplating our blindness”: ibid. no. 229, p. 65.

46
“What does the world think about?”: Pascal,
Pensées
no. 513, p. 123. “Human sensitivity to little things”: ibid. no. 525, p. 124.

47
Voltaire: “On the
Pensées
of Pascal,” in his
Letters on England
, tr. L. Tancock (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1980), Letter 25, 120–45. “I venture to champion humanity,” ibid. 120. “When I look at Paris,” ibid. 125. “What a delightful design”: ibid. 139.

48
“I accept with all my heart”: III:13 1042.

49
We cannot rise above humanity: II:12 556. “It is an absolute perfection …”: III:13 1044.

50
“Convenience and calm,” and moral danger: Pascal, “Discussion with M. de Sacy,” in
Pensées
188 and 191.

51
Malebranche: Malebranche 184–90. “His ideas are false but beautiful”: ibid. 190. “The mind cannot be pleased”: 184.

52
Montaigne the “seducer”: Guizot,
Montaigne: études et fragments
, cited Tilley 275. The “prodigious seduction machine”: Mathieu-Castellani, G.,
Montaigne: l’écriture de l’essai
255.

53
“Thoughts which come naturally”: La Bruyère, J. de,
Characters
, tr. J. Stewart (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1970), Book I, no. 44, p. 34 (translation of
Caractères
, 1688).

54
On the
libertins
, see Pessel, A., “Libertins—libertinage,” in Desan,
Dictionnaire
588–9, and
Montaigne Studies
19 (2007), which is devoted to the topic. On Marie de Gournay, see Dotoli, G., “Montaigne et les libertins via Mlle de Gournay,” in Tetel (ed.),
Montaigne et Marie de Gournay
105–41, esp. 128–9. On La Fontaine, see Boase,
Fortunes
396–406.

55
La Rochefoucauld: La Rochefoucauld, F. de,
Maxims
, tr. L. Tancock (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1959). “At times we are as different”: ibid. no. 135, p. 51. “The surest way to be taken in”: ibid. no. 127, p. 50. “Chance and caprice”: ibid. no. 435, p. 88. “We often irritate others”: ibid. no. 242, p. 66.

56
Bel esprit:
“gay, lively, full of fire” is the definition given in Bohours,
Entretiens d’Ariste et d’Eugène
(1671), 194, cited in Pessel, A., “Libertins—libertinage,” in Desan,
Dictionnaire
589.
Honnêteté:
Académie definition as cited in Villey,
Montaigne devant la postérité
339. See Magendie, M.,
La Politesse mondaine et les théories de l’honnêteté, en France, au XVII siècle
(Paris: Alcan, 1925).

57
“A witty coquetry”: Nietzsche,
Human, All Too Human
, Aphorism 37, p. 41.

58
“Freest and mightiest” and “That such a man wrote”: Nietzsche, “Schopenhauer as Educator,” in
Untimely Meditations
135. “If I had to live over again”: III:2 751–2. On Nietzsche and Montaigne, see Donellan, B., “Nietzsche and Montaigne,”
Colloquia Germanica
19 (1986), 1–20; Williams, W.D.,
Nietzsche and the French: A Study of the Influence of Nietzsche’s French Reading on His Thought and Writing
(Oxford: Blackwell, 1952); Molner, David, “The influence of Montaigne on Nietzsche: a
raison d’être
in the sun,”
Nietzsche Studien
22 (1993), 80–93; Panichi, Nicola,
Picta historia: lettura di Montaigne e Nietzsche
(Urbino: Quattro Venti, 1995).

59
Arnauld and Nicole’s attack: Arnauld, A. and Nicole, P.,
La Logique ou l’art de penser
(Paris: C. Savreux, 1662), and 2nd edn (Paris: C. Savreux, 1664). See Boase,
Fortunes
410–11.

60
Suppressed books are more marketable: III:5 781.

61
“It is not in Montaigne”: Pascal,
Pensées
no. 568, p. 131.