How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer

Let us begin our journey with a gentle question, one that echoes through the centuries: How should we live? This is not just a philosopher’s puzzle, but a deeply human one, and it was the question that Michel de Montaigne, a French nobleman living in the turbulent sixteenth century, made the center of his life’s work. Imagine a world torn by religious wars, where the future is uncertain and the old certainties are crumbling. In such a world, Montaigne retreated to his round tower, surrounded by books and sunlight, to ask, to ponder, and to write.

He did not set out to teach or to preach. Instead, he invited us into his study, to join him as he tried—essayed, in the truest sense—to make sense of living. The essay, as he invented it, was not a finished product but a living experiment, a record of attempts, failures, and discoveries. He believed that wisdom is not a place you arrive, but a path you walk, often in circles, sometimes in the dark.

Montaigne’s essays are full of questions rather than answers. He wondered how to face death, how to survive loss, how to pay attention to the world, and how to be at peace with imperfection. He wrote about the little things: the taste of melon, the feeling of a conversation, the way a dog looks at you. He wrote about big things, too: war, love, friendship, and the fleeting nature of happiness.

In his time, the world was anything but stable. Plague swept the land, civil war raged, and trust was hard to find. Yet Montaigne’s response was not to withdraw from life, but to turn inward—into the mind, into the heart, and onto the page. His essays became a mirror in which readers, from peasants to kings, could see themselves reflected. He showed that to ask 'How to live?' is itself an act of hope.

As we begin this audiobook, let us step into Montaigne’s study. Let us pause, breathe, and allow ourselves to be curious. There is no single answer to the question of how to live, but there are many paths to explore. Each section of our journey will offer a new insight, a new attempt at an answer, drawn from the rich tapestry of Montaigne’s life and thought.

So, come with me. Let us wander through questions, stories, and gentle wisdom. For in the asking, we may discover what it means to be truly alive. And as we leave this first chamber of inquiry, let us move forward to consider one of Montaigne’s earliest and most liberating lessons: the art of not worrying about death.