I want you to think of a philosopher, a generic philosopher, picture what a philosopher

looks like in your mind. What does he look like? How does he act? He's probably old, balding,

or at least a little gray, maybe a bit stooped. Perhaps he's a bit more professorial, you know,

bearded with glasses and a long nose. bit more professorial, you know, bearded with glasses and a long

nose. And in your mind, you know, what's he doing this philosopher? He's sitting at a desk, right?

Either reading or writing, perhaps if you imagined a Greek philosopher, maybe he's sitting on a rock,

speaking with a crowd of other philosophers. But when we think of philosophy and wisdom and learning,

this is what we think of, bald heads

and quiet contemplation.

Which is why I want to talk about someone you've never heard of, Francois de la Rochefoucault,

a famous French writer and philosopher who lived in the 1600s.

And that's because Rochefoucault was not only a man of letters, but a man of action as well.

This is someone who wrote one of the great works of the Western canon, but also literally kidnapped the Queen of France and smuggled her out

of the country. His writing and his wit made him the star of the literary salons of Paris,

but he also killed people as a cavalryman and was himself both shot and stabbed in battle.

And I think his dual nature is demonstrated quite well by comparing a history that he wrote

with what actually happened.

Okay?

He wrote a history of a civil war in which he was involved.

And the history is, you know, what you would expect.

Serious, solemn, dry, stately.

One biographer of Roche-Foucault writes that,

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