Genius & Ink 🖌

The French philosopher Michel de Montaigne had an enormous influence on every thinker who came after he died in 1592. Voltaire, Rousseau, Nietzsche, Camus, and Hannah Arendt are only a few names who quoted Montaigne as their influence.

Montaigne is also known as the inventor of Essay as a genre. Unfortunately, our modern schools and universities often miss the original purpose of this genre. Essay comes from the French word ‘essayer’ which means ‘to attempt’, ‘to try’.

In this episode, I want to talk briefly about how you can use this powerful tool that Montaigne invented to improve your life.

💭 Interesting links

* The best translation of Montaigne’s Essays (in my opinion, of course) → https://amzn.to/46DxaMC

* My essay on how Seneca saw friendship

* I’ve made a video about Montaigne’s three philosophies of life.

* Sarah Bakewell’s book on Montaigne is brilliant.

* My Newsletter 📚 - 👉 http://eepurl.com/he7YKD

* Instagram 📷 - 👉 https://www.instagram.com/arti_dote/

* Podcast 🎤- 👉 https://artidote.uk/

* YouTube Channel 🍿 👉 Find Here

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit armenikus.substack.com/subscribe

Hello friends!

Over the past 15 years I’ve documented every book that I’ve ever read in my journal or commonplace book.

The result is that as of June 2023, I’ve about 30 Moleskine notebooks full of ideas, quotes and passages written by some of the greatest minds that ever lived.

From the mind-blowing ideas of Nietzsche and the beautiful language of Vladimir Nabokov’s stories to the sublime labyrinths of mind of Jorge Luis Borges. The problem with this cabinet of curiosities of mine is that it sits and waits on my bookshelves for someone to come, read and rediscover them again.

Treat this podcast as a shared weekly diary where we explore beautiful, timeless ideas from books written by the greatest minds, thinkers, and humans who have ever lived.

V.A. 🖊️

Mentioned in this episode:

* Japanese Koan

* Goethe’s advice comes from this book here.

* Oliver Burkeman’s book 4000 thousand weeks

* My favourite translation of Les Misérables

* Essay on Virginia Woolf

* My Newsletter 📚 - 👉 http://eepurl.com/he7YKD

* Instagram 📷 - 👉 https://www.instagram.com/arti_dote/

* Podcast 🎤- 👉 https://artidote.uk/

* YouTube Channel 🍿 👉 Find Here

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit armenikus.substack.com/subscribe