"On the most exalted throne in the world, we are still seated on nothing but our arse."
-Michel de Montaigne
Today's quote is from one of the most legendary literary figures in the entirety of history. I love this quote for not only its humor but its outright truth. It gives cause for one to be both self aware and also humble. For, you may be a leader of the free world, you may be a celebrated athletic champion, you may be the most beautiful and talented person who has ever walked the earth. However, in the parlance of our times, no one's shit does not stink. We are all human and function on a basic level very much the same. Ultimately, what this quote imparts to me is this: believe in yourself and your abilities, but you are not an exception to the rule.
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) was a French writer, considered to be one of the most important writers of the French Renaissance, if not THE most significant contributor to the literature of said period. He is credited with the popularization of the essay format in writing and used this style to perfect his particular brand of skepticism. Montaigne's questioning attitude did not sit particularly well with the standards of his contemporaries. However, that did not prevent his body of work from influencing writers of great magnitude such as Renee Descartes, Blaise Pascal, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Friedrich Nietsche. And, quite specifically because of his skeptical take on life, Montaigne's writing remains very influential in today's literary circles.
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