Summary
Montaigne explores a paradox that anyone who's experienced profound loss will recognize: the deepest sorrows often render us speechless, while smaller griefs make us weep and wail. He opens by declaring himself largely free from excessive sorrow, which he sees as useless and even harmful. To illustrate his point, he tells the story of Psammenitus, an Egyptian king who remained stoic when watching his children led to execution but broke down completely when he saw a friend among the captives. When asked why, the king explained that his children's fate was too enormous for tears—only the smaller loss could be expressed through weeping. Montaigne pairs this with a contemporary story of a French prince who endured the deaths of two brothers with composure but collapsed when a servant died, because grief had already filled him to the brim. He draws on examples from art and literature, noting how painters depicted the ultimate sorrow by showing a veiled face—some pain is literally beyond expression. The chapter reveals how extreme emotions, whether grief or joy, can overwhelm our systems entirely, leaving us frozen rather than reactive. Montaigne suggests this isn't weakness but a natural response when our capacity for feeling is exceeded. This understanding helps us recognize that sometimes the most devastated people are the quiet ones, not those making the most noise.
Coming Up in Chapter 3
Having explored how deep emotions can paralyze us, Montaigne next examines how our feelings and desires extend far beyond our physical selves, reaching into the future and past in ways that shape our present reality.
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An excerpt from the original text.(~500 words)
OF SORROW No man living is more free from this passion than I, who yet neither like it in myself nor admire it in others, and yet generally the world, as a settled thing, is pleased to grace it with a particular esteem, clothing therewith wisdom, virtue, and conscience. Foolish and sordid guise! --[“No man is more free from this passion than I, for I neither love nor regard it: albeit the world hath undertaken, as it were upon covenant, to grace it with a particular favour. Therewith they adorne age, vertue, and conscience. Oh foolish and base ornament!” Florio, 1613, p. 3] --The Italians have more fitly baptized by this name--[La tristezza]-- malignity; for ‘tis a quality always hurtful, always idle and vain; and as being cowardly, mean, and base, it is by the Stoics expressly and particularly forbidden to their sages. But the story--[Herodotus, iii. 14.]--says that Psammenitus, King of Egypt, being defeated and taken prisoner by Cambyses, King of Persia, seeing his own daughter pass by him as prisoner, and in a wretched habit, with a bucket to draw water, though his friends about him were so concerned as to break out into tears and lamentations, yet he himself remained unmoved, without uttering a word, his eyes fixed upon the ground; and seeing, moreover, his son immediately after led to execution, still maintained the same countenance; till spying at last one of his domestic and familiar friends dragged away amongst the captives, he fell to tearing his hair and beating his breast, with all the other extravagances of extreme sorrow. A story that may very fitly be coupled with another of the same kind, of recent date, of a prince of our own nation, who being at Trent, and having news there brought him of the death of his elder brother, a brother on whom depended the whole support and honour of his house, and soon after of that of a younger brother, the second hope of his family, and having withstood these two assaults with an exemplary resolution; one of his servants happening a few days after to die, he suffered his constancy to be overcome by this last accident; and, parting with his courage, so abandoned himself to sorrow and mourning, that some thence were forward to conclude that he was only touched to the quick by this last stroke of fortune; but, in truth, it was, that being before brimful of grief, the least addition overflowed the bounds of all patience. Which, I think, might also be said of the former example, did not the story proceed to tell us that Cambyses asking Psammenitus, “Why, not being moved at the calamity of his son and daughter, he should with so great impatience bear the misfortune of his friend?” “It is,” answered he, “because only this last affliction was to be manifested by tears, the two first far exceeding all manner of expression.” And, peradventure, something like this might be working in the fancy of...
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Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
The Road of Overwhelm - When Big Pain Goes Silent
When emotional capacity is exceeded, the deepest pain produces silence while smaller hurts trigger visible reactions.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches you to recognize when someone's lack of reaction signals maximum pain, not minimum caring.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when the 'strong' person in your workplace or family goes unusually quiet—they might need support, not space.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Terms to Know
Stoics
Ancient Greek and Roman philosophers who believed in controlling emotions through reason and accepting what you cannot change. They taught that excessive grief, anger, or joy were weaknesses that clouded judgment.
Modern Usage:
We still use 'stoic' to describe someone who stays calm under pressure or doesn't show much emotion during tough times.
Melancholy
What people in Montaigne's time called deep, persistent sadness or depression. It was considered one of the four basic temperaments that shaped personality and was often romanticized as a sign of intelligence or sensitivity.
Modern Usage:
We might call this clinical depression today, though we're less likely to see it as noble or attractive.
Overwhelming grief
The psychological state where sorrow becomes so intense that it actually shuts down normal emotional responses. The mind protects itself by going numb rather than feeling everything at once.
Modern Usage:
This is what therapists now call emotional overwhelm or trauma response - when people seem surprisingly calm after devastating news.
Capacity for feeling
Montaigne's idea that humans have limits to how much emotion they can process at once. Like a cup that overflows, we can only handle so much grief before we shut down completely.
Modern Usage:
Modern psychology confirms this as emotional bandwidth - why we might cry over a broken dish after holding it together through a major crisis.
Veiled sorrow
An artistic convention where painters showed the deepest grief by covering faces with veils or cloths, suggesting some pain is too profound to depict directly.
Modern Usage:
We see this in how media often shows devastating grief through silence or turned-away faces rather than dramatic crying.
Familiar friends
In Montaigne's time, this meant close personal servants or companions who shared daily life, distinct from family members or formal relationships.
Modern Usage:
These would be like our closest coworkers, longtime neighbors, or friends we see every day - people woven into our routine.
Characters in This Chapter
Psammenitus
Tragic example
The defeated Egyptian king who stayed composed watching his children led to execution but broke down seeing a friend among captives. His reaction illustrates how overwhelming grief can make us numb to the biggest losses while smaller ones break us.
Modern Equivalent:
The parent who handles their child's cancer diagnosis calmly but falls apart when the family dog dies
Cambyses
Conqueror
The Persian king who defeated and captured Psammenitus. He represents the external force that creates the conditions for testing how people respond to loss and humiliation.
Modern Equivalent:
The boss who lays off half the department and watches how people react
The French Prince
Contemporary example
Montaigne's modern parallel to Psammenitus - a nobleman who endured his brothers' deaths stoically but collapsed when a servant died, showing the same pattern of emotional overflow.
Modern Equivalent:
The CEO who stays strong through company bankrupty but breaks down when their assistant quits
Key Quotes & Analysis
"No man living is more free from this passion than I, who yet neither like it in myself nor admire it in others"
Context: Opening statement about his relationship with sorrow
Montaigne positions himself as someone who doesn't wallow in grief but also doesn't judge others for it. He's establishing credibility - he's not someone who enjoys drama or sees suffering as noble.
In Today's Words:
I don't get caught up in feeling sorry for myself, and I don't think it's impressive when other people do either.
"My domestic and familiar grief had already filled up my capacity for tears"
Context: The king's explanation for why he couldn't cry for his children but wept for his friend
This reveals the psychological truth that we have limits to our emotional processing. The biggest tragedies can overwhelm us into numbness, while smaller losses find the cracks in our armor.
In Today's Words:
I was already at my breaking point - there was no room left for more grief until something smaller pushed me over the edge.
"The painters, to represent the grief of those who followed Meleager to his death, having portrayed one with all the sorrow he could possibly express, drew the chief mourner with his face veiled"
Context: Describing how artists depicted ultimate sorrow
This shows that even artists recognized some pain is beyond expression. The most devastated person isn't the one crying loudest but the one who can't even show their face.
In Today's Words:
When artists wanted to show the worst grief, they didn't paint someone screaming - they covered their face because some pain is too deep for words.
Thematic Threads
Emotional Capacity
In This Chapter
Montaigne explores how extreme grief can overwhelm our ability to express it, while smaller sorrows remain within our emotional bandwidth
Development
Introduced here
In Your Life:
You might recognize this when you stay composed through major crises but break down over minor inconveniences.
Social Expectations
In This Chapter
Society expects visible grief reactions and misinterprets silence as lack of caring or strength
Development
Introduced here
In Your Life:
You might feel pressure to perform your emotions in ways others can understand and validate.
Human Relationships
In This Chapter
Understanding others requires recognizing that silence might indicate the deepest pain, not indifference
Development
Introduced here
In Your Life:
You might need to check on the quiet person differently, knowing they could be carrying the heaviest burden.
Personal Growth
In This Chapter
Montaigne models self-awareness by examining his own emotional responses and capacity for sorrow
Development
Introduced here
In Your Life:
You might learn to honor your own emotional limits instead of judging yourself for going numb during overwhelming times.
Identity
In This Chapter
How we process and express grief becomes part of how we understand ourselves and how others see us
Development
Introduced here
In Your Life:
You might question whether your way of handling pain matches who you think you are or who others expect you to be.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
Why could the Egyptian king cry for his friend but not for his own children being executed?
analysis • surface - 2
What does Montaigne mean when he says extreme grief can make us go silent instead of making us cry?
analysis • medium - 3
Think of someone you know who seems to handle big problems well but gets upset over small things. How does Montaigne's insight explain this?
application • medium - 4
How would you check on someone who's going through major trauma but seems 'fine' on the outside?
application • deep - 5
What does this chapter teach us about judging people's reactions to loss or stress?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Map Your Emotional Circuit Breakers
Think about the last six months of your life. Write down one big stressful situation you handled quietly and one small thing that made you react strongly. Then identify what your emotional 'bandwidth' was at each moment. What was already taking up space in your emotional system?
Consider:
- •Notice the difference between your capacity when you're already stretched thin versus when you have emotional reserves
- •Consider whether the 'small' trigger was actually your emotions finding a safe place to release bigger feelings
- •Think about how others might misread your reactions without knowing your full emotional load
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you or someone you care about went silent during a crisis. What was really happening beneath that silence, and how might you handle similar situations differently now?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 3: Why We Live Beyond Ourselves
What lies ahead teaches us our constant focus on the future robs us of present happiness, and shows us judging leaders honestly after death serves society better than false praise. These patterns appear in literature and life alike.