A Daily Routine of Writers and Philosophers

Everyone has their own attitudes and habits whether it’s a typical time for waking up or favourite activities for weekends.

In that sense, well-known people are not an exception, and they also have their favourite foods and places for going out.

In this post, I’ll describe some interesting habits and routines of famous writers and philosophers.

A German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, led a simple and ordinary life.

He lived in the countryside and never travelled for his entire life.

Some of his biographers assumed it was because of his ascetic personality, but in fact the reason was more prosaic: the philosopher was sick.

Kant had an abnormally small chest that shrank his heart and chest, so he had quite fragile health.

As a result, Kant couldn’t endure long trips.

He usually woke up at 5 am, then smoked a couple of pipes and drank tea.

He gave lectures over the same courses for 40 years and never changed this routine.

He also liked nourishing and simple food, like a well-done steak and good wine.

After meals, Kant usually went for his famous stroll, a habit that helped him to discover new insights and developed his theories.

Although many of his acquittances considered him to be an introvert, Kant had a social personality and liked talking with people.

An American philosopher, William James, was famous for his noticeable habit — not to create any habits.

He led a disordered and unsettled life, and his daily tasks he accomplished rather haphazardly.

James was a great procrastinator and busied himself with many unimportant trivia so that not to encounter writing.

For instance, he could polished his nails for hours or rearranged books in his library until his anxiety finally pushed him to work.

James usually had a drink before dinner and kept this habit until his thirties when he finally stopped smoke and drink coffee.

Nevertheless, James also had his fair share of harmful habits.

Throughout his life, the writer suffered from insomnia and use chloroform to help himself sleep.

If after the substance he still couldn’t sleep, he would read.

Later, he complained to his friends about his night reading as another expression of procrastination.

An American-British author, Henry James, always had a strict timetable and wrote every day throughout many years.

He was so committed to writing that he started to write a new book immediately after finishing the previous one.

After many years of intensive writing, his wrist became ache, and he had to abandon hand-writing in favor of dictation to his secretary.

A secretary usually visited him at his house every morning and they worked together until he felt tired.

Sometimes, James asked a secretary to come in evening, and so that she didn’t lose concentration, he presented her with a chocolate bar.

An Irish novelist, James Joyce, always had a lot of debts, and in order to pay them he had to gave private piano lessons, which typically occupied his days.

Therefore, he had time for writing mostly in evenings.

After writing Joyce sometimes visited local pubs, where he liked singing Irish songs; he was very proud about his strong voice.

Sometimes he went with his wife to opera, or they attended other cultural events.

A French novelist, Marcel Proust, is well-known for his epic book Remembrance of Things.

In order to write this book, Proust decided to completely withdraw from society.

All of his time he spent in his famous bedroom, where he also ate and took a quick nap throughout a day.

He left his bed only when he needed to find some facts or get new experiences for future writing.

Proust wrote also purely in the bed, almost horizontally and in night.

Most of the time only a small lamp lit up in his bedroom, due to which Proust had problem with eyes and quickly tired from reading or writing.

If the novelist wanted to cheer him up, he took a caffeine pill or Veronal, a barbiturate.

Besides this, the novelist would use an opium-based powder to reduce his chronic asthma.

Sometimes he took only a couple of puffs, but sometimes he could smoke it for hours.

After that, he liked drinking coffee and ate a croissant; often it was all his food for a whole day.

However, sometimes people saw him in restaurants, where he typically ordered different dishes and ate as a normal person.

The secretary usually visited him at his house every morning and they worked together until he felt tired.

German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, led a simple and ordinary life.

American philosopher, William James, was famous for his noticeable habit — not to create any habits.

American-British author, Henry James, always had a strict timetable and wrote every day throughout many years.

Irish novelist, James Joyce, always had a lot of debts, and in order to pay them he had to gave private piano lessons, which typically occupied his days.

French novelist, Marcel Proust, is well-known for his epic book Remembrance of Things.

Everyone has their own attitudes and habits, be it a typical time for waking up, or favourite activities for weekends.

He lived in the countryside and never travelled throughout his entire life.

Some of his biographers assumed it was because of his introverted personality, but in fact the reason was simpler: the philosopher was sick.

Kant had an abnormally small chest that caused his heart and chest to shrink, so he had quite fragile health.

He gave lectures in the same courses for 40 years and never changed this routine.

Although many of his acquiaintances considered him to be an introvert, Kant had a social personality and liked talking with people.

American philosopher, William James, was famous for a rather peculiar habit — not creating any.

He led messy life, and his daily tasks were accomplished rather haphazardly.

James was a great procrastinator and busied himself with many unimportant activities so that he would not find himself writing.

For instance, he would polish his nails for hours or rearrange books in his library until his anxiety finally pushed him to work.

James usually had a drink before dinner and kept this habit until his thirties when he finally stopped smoking and drinking coffee.

After many years of intensive writing, his wrist started to ache, and he had to abandon hand-writing in favor of dictating what he wanted to write to his secretary.

Sometimes, James asked a secretary to come in evening, and in order to prevent her from losing concentration, he gave her a chocolate bar.

Irish novelist, James Joyce, always ffound himself in debts and in order to pay them he had to give private piano lessons, which typically occupied his days.

Therefore, he had time for writing mostly in the evenings.

After writing, Joyce sometimes visited local pubs, where he liked singing Irish songs; he was very proud about his strong voice.

Sometimes he went with his wife to the opera or attended other cultural events.

All of his time he spent in his famous bedroom, where he also ate and took a quick nap throughout the day.

Most of the time only a small lamp lit up in his bedroom, due to which Proust had problems with his eyes and quickly tired from reading or writing.

If the novelist wanted to cheer himself up, he took a caffeine pill or Veronal, a barbiturate.

Sometimes he took only a couple of puffs, but other times he could smoke it for hours.

After that, he liked drinking coffee and eating a croissant; often times, it was all that he ate for an entire day.

However, sometimes people saw him in restaurants, where he typically ordered different dishes and ate like a normal person.

After meals, Kant usually went for his famous stroll, a habit that helped him to discover new insights and develop his theories.

If after using the substance he still couldn’t sleep, he would read.

Proust also wrote on his bed at night.