Voting Station

Michel de Montaigne

Please vote to return to collections.

Author

The Resume

    (February 28, 1533-September 13, 1592)
    Born in Chateau de Montaigne, France
    Wrote 'Essais' (1580)
    Appointed counselor to the Parliament of Bordeaux (1557)
    Courtier at the court of King Charles IX (1561-63)
    Mayor of Bordeaux (1581-85)
    Sayings include:
    'Nothing is so firmly believed as that which is least known'
    'No man is a hero to his valet'
    'Marriage is like a cage: one sees the birds outside desperate to get in, and those inside desperate to get out'
    'Man cannot make a worm, yet he will make gods by the dozen'

Why he might be annoying:

    His family had made their fortune selling herring.
    He was brought up to learn Latin before French, with his tutor, servants and parents only speaking Latin in front of him.
    He withdrew from society and his family for nearly a decade while working on 'Essais.'
    His declaration 'I am myself the subject of my book' was considered self-indulgent by his contemporaries.

Why he might not be annoying:

    As mayor of Bordeaux, he successfully moderated between Catholics and Protestants during a time of religious wars.
    He popularized the essay as a literary genre.
    He is considered a father of modern skepticism.
    His ideas influenced the philosophers Rene Descartes, Blaise Pascal and Friedrich Nietzsche.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 85 Votes: 63.53% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 123 Votes: 55.28% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 9 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 18 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 13 Votes: 61.54% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 19 Votes: 78.95% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 21 Votes: 66.67% Annoying