To a great extent, happiness is the result of good philosophy accompanied by good implementation. Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) wrote essays for two decades with the sole goal of clarifying the path to happiness. He wanted to build himself a philosophy and a lifestyle conducive to happiness. What lessons did Montaigne learn during his two decades of philosophical exploration? He learned that happiness depends on one’s lifestyle choices more than on anything else. We build our own happiness step by step if we acquire beneficial habits and practise them assiduously. Realism is a crucial thinking habit to acquire if we want to maximise our happiness. On the one hand, we need to become conscious of our potential and bring it to the next level. On the other hand, we need to remain cool-headed in the face of errors and setbacks, failure and opposition, obstacles and bad luck. Montaigne noted that friendship can immensely contribute to happiness, but that close, loyal friends are hard to come by. Etienne de La Boetie (1530-1563) was Montaigne’s best friend, but unfortunately, he died very young, years before Montaigne started to write his essays. In his essays, Montaigne acknowledged that few individuals achieve happiness. He reflected long about the reasons, and concluded that unhappiness often arises from distractions, that is, from chasing harmful goals. Montaigne presented his theory of happiness (or about how to prevent unhappiness) in his essay “That the Soul Expends its Passions upon False Objects.” I would translate the French title into contemporary English as follows: “That We Tend to Focus Our Attention on Matters of Little Importance.” The core idea of the essay is that we would be happier and more effective if we devoted our energies to beneficial tasks. If we identify a happy lifestyle and stick to it, we would be better off than by changing direction all the time. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/michel-de-montaigne-and-happiness/

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