Montaigne in the 1500s never ceased to recognize the absurdity of man, “the investigator without knowledge, the magistrate without jurisdiction, and all in all, the fool of the farce.” 

He felt our pleasures were “virtually nothing but wind: alas we are all wind.”  However, he believed this must lead us to accept, not to reject, ourselves.  “We must learn that pleasure and pain are interdependent, receive them contentedly, and harmonize them.  A grateful acceptance of human nature and human life on their own terms is the key to our greatest achievement and appropriate living:  … Our great and glorious masterpiece is to live appropriately.”  It is the key to wisdom and happiness.