Michel de Montaigne was a Renaissance thinker who lived during the 16th Century. His ideas were revolutionary. He believed that to truly know yourself, you have to make time to listen to yourself. More than four centuries after his death, his observations about human nature, friendship, fear, happiness and the search for a meaningful life still feel relevant.
Born near Bordeaux, France, in 1533, Montaigne spent much of his early life in public service. He held government positions and spent time at the French royal court. After his father died in 1568, Montaigne inherited the family estate. In 1571, at age 38, he retired from public life to his château, where he devoted himself to reading, reflection and writing.
It was there that Montaigne began creating the work that would make him one of history’s most influential essayists. He called his collection The Essays, helping establish the literary form we now know as the essay. Rather than presenting himself as someone with all the answers, Montaigne used his writing to understand his own thoughts, habits, fears and contradictions.
Montaigne was deeply skeptical of conventional wisdom and very curious about human behavior. His essays range across subjects including education, friendship, solitude, death and the ways people make sense of the world. Known as the “father of the familiar essay,” he influenced generations of writers, including Virginia Woolf, Francis Bacon, Charles Lamb, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Montaigne died on Sept. 13, 1592, at his estate near Bordeaux. As Woolf wrote of his legacy, reading his work was “an enthralling spectacle of a soul living openly beneath our eyes.” She added that we could all benefit from having some Montaigne spirit within us. “Let us simmer over our incalculable cauldron, our enthralling confusion, our hotch-potch of impulses, our perpetual miracle,” wrote Woolf. “For the soul throws up wonders every second.”
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Quote of the Day by Michel de Montaigne
These words come from Montaigne’s Essays, in the chapter known as “Of Solitude.” In the essay, Montaigne considers what it means to create a private inner life rather than allowing our happiness and sense of self to depend entirely on the outside world.
The idea is that we need to develop a relationship with ourselves that isn’t completely controlled by other people’s expectations or opinions. For Montaigne, belonging to yourself didn’t mean avoiding other people. Instead, it was about stepping away from the demands of society and reconnecting with your own thoughts and values. While it was possible to maintain friends, family and responsibilities, it was also necessary to keep an inner space that was uniquely your own.
That idea feels especially relevant today. It’s easy to become preoccupied with how we’re perceived and if we are measuring up. Montaigne’s advice offers another possibility. Learn to enjoy your own company, think for yourself and become comfortable with the person you are.
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Deeper Meaning of Michel de Montaigne’s Quote about Self-Possession
To “belong to oneself” means knowing who you are beneath how you may appear to other people. You may be a parent, partner, friend or colleague, but none of those identities has to completely define you.
Montaigne discovered this through self-examination rather than certainty. His Essays are filled with questions, observations and contradictions. He didn’t present himself as someone who had mastered human nature. Instead, he made his own life and mind the subject of an ongoing investigation.
According to Montaigne, self-knowledge is a lifelong process of noticing what we think and questioning what we believe. For Montaigne, spending time alone could be an opportunity for that kind of reflection. Sometimes it is the quieter ability to sit with yourself, trust your own judgment and not be completely dictated by the expectations of the outside world.
More than four centuries after his death, Montaigne’s words continue to resonate. Montaigne called ‘the greatest thing in the world… to know how to belong to oneself.’
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More Quotes By Michel de Montaigne
“He who fears he will suffer, already suffers because he fears.”
“There is no conversation more boring than the one where everybody agrees.”
“I quote others only in order the better to express myself.”
“We are all richer than we think, but we are taught to live with less than we have.”
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