On Solitude

Resumen del libro

Blending intellectual speculation with anecdote and personal reflection, the Renaissance thinker and writer Montaigne pioneered the modern essay. This selection contains his idiosyncratic and timeless writings on subjects as varied as the virtues of solitude, the power of the imagination, the pleasures of reading, the importance of sleep and why we sometimes laugh and cry at the same things.


Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.

Biografía del autor

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) fue una figura central del humanismo europeo y uno de los pensadores más influyentes de la Edad Moderna. Magistrado y alcalde de Burdeos, vivió en un tiempo marcado por las guerras de religión y la crisis de los valores tradicionales, contexto que determinó su reflexión sobre la educación, la política y la moral. Autor de los Ensayos , obra fundacional del pensamiento moderno, Montaigne elaboró una filosofía basada en la experiencia, el escepticismo y la defensa del juicio individual.