Freethought Almanac

Lighting a candle in toxic air.

February 28: Michel de Montaigne (1533)

It was on this date, February 28, 1533, that French essayist Michel de Montaigne was born. As his famous Essays were published, the 1572 St. Bartholomew’s Massacre was a fresh memory in France, so Montaigne professed to be a Catholic. Yet he made some risky statements in his most famous work:

• Man is certainly stark mad; he cannot make a flea, yet he makes gods by the dozen.

• Men of simple understanding, little inquisitive and little instructed, make good Christians.

• Nothing is so firmly believed as what we least know.

Montaigne was a Deist, but he may have been a secret Atheist…

To read more, go to THIS LINK.

Originally published February 2003 by Ronald Bruce Meyer.

Ronald Bruce Meyer

Our Fearless Leader.


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October 25: Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer (d. 1400) It was on this date, October 25, 1400, that the first great poet in the English language, Geoffrey Chaucer, died at his home in London. His date of birth is unknown, though it is probably around 1340-1343. Chaucer became a celebrated poet during his lifetime, which did not interfere with his […]



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