Velázquez, The Surrender of Breda

Wait. It's a sign of a noble heart dowered with patience, never to be in a hurry, never to be in a passion. First be master over yourself if you would be master over others. You must pass through the circumference of time before arriving at the centre of opportunity. A wise reserve seasons the aims and matures the means.

Now for a tasty slice of seasoned and matured jamón in our triple-decker Montaigne sandwich: Baltasar Gracián's Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia. Gracián (1601–1658) was a Jesuit priest, philosopher, and one of the brightest lights of Spanish literature. Despite the efforts of church authorities to get him to stop publishing, seven works escaped his sharp and subtle mind, works that long after his death would earn extravagant praise from figures as varied as Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Elon Musk (three sometime atheists that nonetheless found much to admire in this Catholic clergyman's thinking).

The Art of Worldy Wisdom, his most popular and accessible book, is a collection of 300 humane-but-realistic aphorisms with brief commentary. Fans of La Rochefoucauld will detect the considerable influence that Gracián had on him with this book, published less than two decades prior to his Maximes (a favorite of O.S.S.I. in the past). But if that doesn't sell you on the Oráculo Manual, then try this:

Pride yourself on the fact that if gallantry, generosity, and fidelity disappeared from the world, they could be found in you.

Now what could better express the ethos of our club than that?

Fleury François Richard, Montaigne Visiting Torquato Tasso in Prison

Virtue refuses facility for her companion ... the easy, gentle, and sloping path that guides the footsteps of a good natural disposition is not the path of true virtue. It demands a rough and thorny road.

After a brief holiday in the sun, we return to our scholarly towers and pick up, once again, The Essays of Montaigne. Although usually bound as one volume, his 107 total essays were published as three books, which we are reading one at a time, with breaks in between. This month, we are only reading the second book. If you didn't attend our June meeting for Book One, don't worry, you really can begin at any point. So pick a translation and get started on Book Two; it's the longest of the three so plan accordingly!

Ogata Gekko, Picture of Officers and Men Worshipping the Rising Sun While Encamped in the Mountains of Port Arthur

If my self was my dwelling, then my body resembled an orchard that surrounded it. I could either cultivate that orchard to its capacity or leave it for the weeds to run riot in. I was free to choose, but the freedom was not as obvious as it might seem. Many people, indeed, go so far as to refer to the orchards of their dwellings as "destiny".

One day, it occurred to me to set about cultivating my orchard for all I was worth.

Here's a summer read, a short palate cleanser before we dive back into Montaigne, and as a special treat, it's not even that old. 1968! Our youngest book yet. I'm bending our rules hard this time.

Portrait of Michel de Montaigne, Augustin de Saint-Aubin, 1774

Thus, reader, myself am the matter of my book: there’s no reason thou shouldst employ thy leisure about so frivolous and vain a subject.

In 1570, Michel de Montaigne, then 37, retired from his law career. A year later, he began his real work. Sequestering himself in his study (literally a tower), he set about inventing, and even immediately perfecting, a new literary form: the essay.

Here's a new video in my "Pushing Back the Chaos" series. In this short one I 3D-print some wall-mounted bins for my large and varied collection of zip ties. See some satisfying organization and don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe!