Day 3 · Q1: Self-Knowledge · January 3, 2026
Pause. Breathe. Begin.
I . L E C T I O
Montaigne
Essays, Book I, Ch. 39 — Of Solitude
“We must reserve a back shop all our own, entirely free, in which we establish our real liberty and our principal retreat and solitude.”
C O N T E X T
Michel de Montaigne wrote this in the 1570s after retiring from public life to his tower library. His "back shop" is not a physical room but an inner space — a place within yourself that belongs to no one else.
I I . M E D I T A T I O
“Do you have a 'back shop' — a place in your mind that is entirely your own?”
I I I . S C R I P T I O
Describe your inner retreat in one sentence.
I V . C O N N E X I O
Montaigne's 'back shop' and Socrates' self-examination — are they the same practice, or different paths to the same end?
This practice exists because of readers like you.
Sustain it →Tomorrow's passage, delivered at dawn.