Alain de Botton on Montaigne

from The consolations of philosophy,  Penguin, 2000.

p. 158 "... being incomprehensible offers unparalleled protection against having nothing to say."


p. 159 "But writing with simplicity requires courage, for there is a danger that one will be overlooked, dismissed as simpleminded ... Montaigne wondered whether the majority of university scholars would have appreciated Socrates, a man they professed to revere above all others, if he had approached them in their own towns, devoid of the prestige of Plato's dialogues, in his dirty cloak, speaking in plain language ... "


p. 160 "It (Montaigne's essay) is a plea ... to refrain from considering ourselves as fools if, because of a hole in our budget or our education, our cloaks are simple and our vocabulary no larger than that of a stallholder in Les Halles."


http://www.alaindebotton.com/philosophy.asp