“Everyone rushes elsewhere, and into the future, for no one has reached his own self.” Montaigne
Montaigne’s words (it’s “Chacun court ailleurs et àl’advenir, d’autant que nul n’est arrivé àsoy” in the original French) are a striking reminder of how unsettled and restless we can be.
All too often we do things halfheartedly. The other half of our heart is leaning into the future, anticipating what we’ll be doing next. So we’ll be loading the dishwasher, wishing we were watching TV. But when we’re watching TV, we wish we were on Facebook. Even when having sex, people spend ten percent of their time thinking about something else. We’re so often leaning forward — rushing on to the next activity.
When Montaigne says that “no one has reached his own …