Humanists showed the worth and influence of the individual. For instance, Petrarch’s writings concerned his own worth, and how he was important. Petrarch also goes into living the life of solitude, or vita contempletiva. He believed that he should sacrifice his life with people so he could focus mainly on his writings rather than the world around him. Petrarch had confidence that this would help him to create superior writings, so that he could provide the best to his readers. Petrarch’s readings elevated the reader’s worth and Petrarch’s own worth. Bruni and Salutati both advocated a life lived among people, the active life or vita activa. Bruni showed the power of the individual. He linked the glory of Florence to the power of the individual…show more content… Petrarch climbs a mountain, while doing so he is focusing on outward things such as what paths he can take that are easy and the mountains surrounding him. When he gets to the top he reads a random passage of St. Augustine’s Confessions. The passage talks about how men wonder at the heights of mountains, the waves of the sea, rivers, oceans, and stars. At the end of the passage, it reads “but themselves they consider not.” After reading this Petrarch turned toward himself. Because of the passage of St. Augustine’s Confessions, Petrarch shows that people need to see themselves as important individuals and focus on themselves rather than everything around…show more content… Petrarch believed fully in vita contempletiva, while Bruni and Salutati’s beliefs were more like vita activa. Petrarch’s life was all about moving around and never settling He learned a lot in his travels, but he didn’t like being around large amounts of people. He had always found banquets to be “repugnant” Which shows that he wasn’t a person that loved being around crowds. This may have helped him to become what he was. The passage that Petrarch read of St. Augustine’s Confessions shows how he strongly believed that artists and writers should live in solitude so that they could spend their energy entirely on their work rather than distraction. Petrarch would try and forget his own time, diving into history rather than the present. This shows how he took himself away from the active life, for he even went away from the present time. After traveling to many places around Europe Petrarch returned home, but he “sought some means of escape.” Petrarch found that escape in a valley away from the city where he could completely focus his attention on himself and his books. He wrote many books there. Petrarch strongly believed in vita