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Michel de Montaigne: 2 ideas worth knowing

2 ideas from Michel de Montaigne, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

• A nobleman decided 'barbarian' was just a word for 'unfamiliar'

  In his 1580 essay 'Of Cannibals', Michel de Montaigne used reports of Brazilian Tupinamba people to turn European assumptions back on themselves, arguing that calling another cultu…

  — Michel de Montaigne, Essays

• A 16th-century nobleman invented the essay just to keep asking 'what do I know?'

  Retreating to his tower library in the 1570s, Michel de Montaigne began writing short, meandering pieces that doubled back on themselves and admitted their own uncertainty — a form…

  — Michel de Montaigne, The Complete Essays

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