Friday, April 29, 2011

Emerson's Essay on Montaigne

This blog is named in honor of Emerson, whose essays I've come to enjoy a great deal.  Particularly fine is his essay on Montaigne, the inventor of the form.  Here's a quote, taken almost at random, that intrigues me: "The studious class are their own victims: they are thin and pale, their feet are cold, their heads are hot, the night is without sleep, the day a fear of interruption,—pallor, squalor, hunger, and egotism."

Is the "studious class" like this in general?  There are exceptions.  It's been some time since anyone accused me of being thin, though I may be pale.  I don't think I have cold feet or a hot head.  As for the other stuff, I should probably just plead the Fifth.

I do love knowing people who are not of the studious class.

1 comment:

  1. I think your days are also filled with a fear of interrupted sleep.

    BTW, steel is elastic, so in modern parlance one would want a shear thickening fluid.

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