Philosophy
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My Year with Montaigne–a “Spiritual Teacher”
“Lend yourself to others, but give yourself to yourself.” To recap: My use of the word spiritual: the means by which the individual strives to be a better human being. To recap: Montaigne’s discipline of attention is extraordinary, especially related to self-reflection. Nietzsche said that all philosophy reflects the philosopher’s biography.1. One of the aversions… Continue reading
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My Year with Montaigne–a Spiritual Teacher?
“A wise man never loses anything, if he has himself.” I was recently talking with a dear friend, a person on a deep spiritual journey with whom I have shared many books and ideas. We see one another only a couple times a year, but one of our standard catch-up questions is, “How is your… Continue reading
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My Year With Montaigne: Of Time & Attention
“We must run through the bad and settle on the good.” III.13 Earlier in this series I discussed Montaigne’s famous chapter, “That to Philosophize is to Learn to Die.” Without being redundant, that chapter reflects the young Montaigne’s Stoic influences. Death awaits us, and to deeply contemplate this reality is to take away its power.… Continue reading
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My Year With Montaigne–On Change
“There is nothing that abides and is always the same.” II.12 Let’s talk about change. We acknowledge it, and supposedly, sometimes begrudgingly, accept it. We even have pithy little mantras to toss around to prove we’re onboard with it: The only constant is change. “Change in all things is sweet.” (Aristotle) “Everything flows.” (Heraclitus) “Every… Continue reading
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My Summer with Montaigne—Update.
Montaigne, “the greatest writer of any time, anywhere.” Orson Welles First a little housekeeping. With Labor Day behind us, you are perhaps wondering about my summer project, is it coming to an end? After all, I titled it, “My Summer with Montaigne”. Truth be told, I feel as if I’ve hardly scratched the surface.… Continue reading
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My Summer with Montaigne–“Of Repentance”
“In all affairs, when they are past, however they have turned out, I have little regret.” III.2 Here’s a thought experiment. Imagine that you have come to the end of your life, and as you lie on your death bed, about to expire, you are approached by some sort of spectral demon who tells you… Continue reading