David Brooks: Michel De Montaigne And Samuel Johnson. The Greatest Essayists Ever?

Montaigne

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montaigne

Excerpt: Soon after his birth, Montaigne was brought to a small cottage, where he lived the first three years of life in the sole company of a peasant family, 'in order to', according to the elder Montaigne, 'draw the boy close to the people, and to the life conditions of the people, who need our help.'^[13]

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"Michel de Montaigne and Samuel Johnson are two of the greatest essayists who ever lived. They tackled similar problems and were fascinated by some of the same perplexities, but they represent different personality types and recommended two different ways to live." David Brooks in The New York Times.

Johnson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Johnson