Montaigne the Same

Working on a magazine piece about Montaigne. Never cease to be amazed how he speaks to us as a contemporary, some 430 years removed. Here he is on how the youngsters are dressing:

…the negligent garb, which is yet observable amongst the young men of our time, to wear my cloak on one shoulder, my cap on one side, a stocking in disorder, which seems to express a kind of haughty disdain of these exotic ornaments…

And he was actually speaking in approval of their dress as compared to the adults.

And for those of you who think I use too many big words, you have found a friend:

The way of speaking that I love, is natural and plain, the same in writing as in speaking, and a sinewy and muscular way of expressing a man’s self, short and pithy, not so elegant and artifical as prompt and vehement.

In my defense, if the man was standing here, I’d tell him I shoot for a 50/50 blend.

I read a lot of Montaigne in my deer stand last fall. Everything he ever wrote is on my cellphone. That is ridiculous and lovely.