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Being an autonomous thinker, Montaigne was still a child of his time. He may not have cared much about democracy, free speech or women's rights. But he had seen enough angry mobs in his life to despise fanaticism and extremism

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Nothing as destructive as radical change

When everything is shifting and nothing seems certain, it feels good sometimes to read those who have experienced key moments in history. So, with Poland throwing the legal order of Europe in disarray, Russia rationing Europe's gas supply and the UK reneging on its Brexit commitments, perhaps the moment has come again to read a few essays by the French philosopher Michel de Montaigne.

Montaigne, a humanist, lived in the 16th century, a period marked by political, civil and, above all, r...

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The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s, not those of EUobserver

Author Bio

Caroline de Gruyter is a Europe correspondent and columnist for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad. This column is an edited version of an earlier piece in NRC.

Being an autonomous thinker, Montaigne was still a child of his time. He may not have cared much about democracy, free speech or women's rights. But he had seen enough angry mobs in his life to despise fanaticism and extremism

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Author Bio

Caroline de Gruyter is a Europe correspondent and columnist for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad. This column is an edited version of an earlier piece in NRC.

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