Orts #876

   And if no one reads me, have I wasted my time, entertaining myself for so many idle hours with such useful and agreeable thoughts? In modeling this figure upon myself, I have had to fashion and compose myself so often to bring myself out, that the model itself has to some extent grown firm and taken shape. Painting myself for others, I have painted my inward self with colors clearer than my original ones. I have no more made my book than my book has made me -- a book consubstantial with its author, concerned with my own self, an integral part of my life; not concerned with some third-hand extraneous purpose, like all other books. Have I wasted my time by taking stock of myself so continually, so carefully?
     -- Montaigne, in an essay, Of giving the lie


   I do not at all hate opinions contrary to mine. I am so far from being vexed to see discord between my judgments and others', and from making myself incompatible with the society of men because they are of a different sentiment and party from mine, that on the contrary, since variety is the most general fashion that nature has followed, and more in minds than bodies, inasmuch as minds are of a substance suppler and susceptible of more forms, I find it much rarer to see our humors and plans agree. And there were never in the world two opinions alike, any more than two hairs or two grains. Their most universal quality is diversity.
     -- Montaigne, in an essay, Of the resemblance of children to fathers


   I do not travel without books, either in peace or in war. However, many days will pass, and even some months, without my using them. I'll do it soon, I say, or tomorrow, or when I please. Time flies and is gone, meanwhile, without hurting me. For I cannot tell you what ease and repose I find when I reflect that they are at my side to give me pleasure at my own time, and when I recognize how much assistance they bring to my life. It is the best provision I have found for this human journey, and I am extremely sorry for men of understanding who do not have it.
     -- Montaigne, in an essay, Of three kinds of association


   If anyone wants to use me according to my nature, let him give me tasks in which vigor and freedom are needed, tasks that require direct, brief, and even hazardous conduct; in those I can do something. If it has to be long, subtle, laborious, artificial, and tortuous, he will do better to apply to someone else.
     -- Montaigne, in an essay, Of husbanding your will
 

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Advances in robotics (video):
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/18/science/robots-ikea-furniture.html