Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Montaigne, Essays and My Dear Teacher

I think my middle school literature teacher did the most harm to me... She was a gentle, agile person who really devoted herself to her students... She took us to plays, movies; she gave us assignments to read classics and helped us to understand what the actual meaning is of every sentence in those books, through criticizing them...

Once I've read a sentence or a quote that basically says, "Every parent leaves a scar on his/her child. That's is how he/she shapes his/her child. Depending on those scars -means marks, influences- the child can be a bad person or a good person." My dear teacher was the one of those people in my life who left on me a big scar... She didn't have to be my parent to shape me; she was just a great person who cares...

I believe she left that scar on me personality when she recommended us to read Essays by Montaigne. According to Wikipedia, "Essays is the title of a book written by Michel de Montaigne that was first published in 1580. Montaigne essentially invented the literary form of essay, a short subjective treatment of a given topic, of which the book contains a large number. Essai is French for "trial" or "attempt"."

This book taught me to see from the otherside of the events, topics... Life proved that he was right... I learned that every person has his/her own story, I saw that everything we believe, understand or see may be a delusion... Every medallion has another side... There is not an only and one right or wrong... It depends who you are, where you are, what is the main trail of your life and every little detail in your and only in your life...

And I am suffering since then... Since I've read Montaigne's Essays, I am cursed... I am sometimes thinking that it may be easier to enjoy life without recognizing every angle of every incident... If I would see the same picture everyone sees, that would be wonderful... I guess... Would that be?.. It should be... Well, I don't know... You tell me... There is no turning back for me...

Here is the complete, free version of this bad book. Please read, I need more people to see what I see...

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