Michel de Montaigne
to make a long story short: this guy acted as politician, diplomat and mayor in a time of civil war, catholics against protestants (including some "final solution" in the day of bartholomew). He reached a point where he said "Fuck you, the rest of my life only belongs to myself", quit the circus and started focussing on his own interests. He wrote a book "The Essaies" whose foreword can be seen as perfect "blog constitution"
Visitor, thou hast here an honest blog; it doth at the outset forewarn
thee that, in contriving the same, I have proposed to myself no other than a domestic and private end: I have had no consideration at all either to thy service or to my glory. My powers are not capable of any such design. I have dedicated it to the particular commodity of my kinsfolk and friends, so that, having lost me (which they must doshortly), they may therein recover some traits of my conditions and humours, and by that means preserve more whole, and more life-like, the knowledge they had of me. Had my intention been to seek the world's favour, I should surely have adorned myself with borrowed beauties: I desire therein to be viewed as I appear in mine own genuine, simple, and ordinary manner, without study and artifice: for it is myself I paint. My defects are therein to be read to the life, and any imperfections and my natural form, so far as public reverence hath permitted me. If I had lived among those nations, which (they say) yet dwell under the sweet liberty of nature's primitive laws, I assure thee I would most willingly have painted myself quite fully and quite naked. Thus, dear visitor, myself am the matter of my blog: there's no reason thou shouldst employ thy leisure about so frivolous and vain a subject.
Therefore farewell.
So in the late 80ies he became my main inspiration how to handle what I call a good life ... and introduced me in the art of dying
Let us learn bravely to stand our ground, and fight him. And to begin to deprive him of the greatest advantage he has over us, let us take a way quite contrary to the common course. Let us disarm him of his novelty and strangeness, let us converse and be familiar with him, and have nothing so frequent in our thoughts as death.
THAT TO STUDY PHILOSOPY IS TO LEARN TO DIE
I'm pretty sure that if he knew what Dàoism is
he would've seen himself as Dàoist.
But his word was "Stoa"
which is also a good attitude
having a "good life" ;)
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