Phil 115: Entry 9
Where would we be without the ability of expression??? Essay 6, Book II -

There seems to be nothing worse than to be alive, and to not be able to show it. Expression is our means to showing we are alive; it's how we learn, and grow, and prosper as human beings. When you cut off a limb, one finds a way of using something else in its place to act in the world. To be sentenced to complete silence is a true punishment on the soul, and a punishment nobody deserves.

Coming from an individualist society, it's easy to see how Montaigne felt about the importance of self-expression. A healthy soul wants the freedom to discuss its ideas, as dialogue truly is the source of knowledge. Can anyone imagine being told they could never do a thing? As Montaigne puts it, "My business, my art, is to live my life. If anyone forbids me to talk about it according to my own sense...command an architect to talk about buildings not according to his own standard but his next-door neighbour's." (p. 425)

What are we but robots without the ability to prove otherwise?