Montaigne

 The true conversation with the self, the bouncing of thoughts connected within his own mind

When reading the essays of Montaigne such as Of Idleness and That Our Mind Hinders Itself, one feels like they are trying to piece together a puzzle from the greatest "Self-conversationalists." When reading Of Idleness, it is easy to see how Montaigne intertwines several different ideas with only one subject. He goes from talking of weeds, to seeding women, and finally wraps up with a horse breaking free. Even though individually these entities have nothing in common, each is essential to the overall theme of the essay. In That Our Mind Hinders Itself, we see Montaigne talk to himself with experiences to help project his train of thought. When he talks of the Stoics, he does not mention them as an example directly related to the overall theme of his essay, rather, they were used as a catalyst for the conversation. Since there is no other mind to bounce ideas off of, Montaigne is responsible for playing the role of listener and critic to his own thoughts. The Stoics are in the same as the intertwining of Of Idleness and is just another one of his tools that he uses throughout his essays.