and then i'm reading merleau-ponty on montaigne:

[Montaigne] saw that he was not required to choose between himself and things. The self is not serious; it does not like to be tied down. But is there anything as certain, resolute, disdainful, contemplative, solemn, and serious as an ass? It is unconditional freedom which makes us capable of absolute attachment. Montaigne says of himself: I have been so sparing in promises that I think I have kept more than I have promised or owed. He sought and maybe found the secret of being simultaneously ironic and solemn, faithful and free.

from 'Reading Montaigne', in Signs.