Life
Maine de Biran was born at Bergerac. The name Maine he assumed (some time before 1787) from an estate called Le Maine, near Mouleydier. After studying with distinction at Périgueux, he entered the life guards of King Louis XVI of France, and was present at Versailles during the events of October 1789. He entered politics and was part of the Conseil des Cinq Cents. On the breaking up of the gardes du corps Biran retired to his patrimonial inheritance of Grateloup, near Bergerac, where he avoided the excesses of the French Revolution.
It was at this period that, to use his own words, he "passed per saltum from frivolity to philosophy". He began with psychology, which he made the study of his life. After the Reign of Terror, Maine de Biran took part in politics. Having been excluded from the Council of the Five Hundred on suspicion of royalism, he took part with his friend Joseph Lainé in the commission of 1813, which first expressed direct opposition to the will of the emperor Napoleon. After the restoration of the monarchy, he became treasurer to the chamber of deputies, retiring during each autumn recess to study at home. The exact date of his death is uncertain.
Read more about this topic: Maine De Biran
Famous quotes containing the word life:
“You’ll have to learn that public life takes a lot of sweat; but it doesn’t need to worry you. You won’t always be right, but you mustn’t suffer from being wrong. That’s what kills people like us.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“I think it beats the heck out of life after death, that’s for sure.”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)
“A man in public life expects to be sneered at—it is the fault of his elevated sitiwation, and not of himself.”
—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)