溫故知新 Old wisdom, today’s insight — ONGO
What Do I Know?
If I place all I hold certain on the scale, what knowledge truly remains?
What do I know?
Montaigne's "what do I know?" was the spark that revived slumbering ancient skepticism in the modern age. He brought Sextus Empiricus's suspension of judgment over into a wisdom for living. The question soon crossed to Descartes and bred an unexpected turn — Descartes doubted all things as Montaigne did, yet reversed doubt from a destination of peace into a starting point toward certainty. One rested in doubt and gained humility; the other stepped off doubt to build a new certainty. The fork of whether to see doubt as terminus or starting point split off from Montaigne's three words.
In an age overflowing with confident voices, the returning question "what do I know?" remains an old refrain that washes away hasty assertion.
Montaigne made these three words the motto of his life, even engraving them on a medal — not the asserting question ("I know") but the returning question ("what do I know?").
📝I, Too, Stand Before It
Montaigne made these three words the motto of his life, even engraving them on a medal — not the asserting question ("I know") but the returning question ("what do I know?"). Endlessly reckoning how often human sense and reason go astray, he quietly laid down certainty. I read this not as cynicism but as a stance of life. This humility of asking once more before asserting keeps me open to learning. When conviction would harden, I too murmur these three words.
✍️Your Answer
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