Title Page Page: 2
Copyright Page: 2
Introduction Page: 2
Note on the Translation Page: 2
Selected Bibliography Page: 2
Contents Page: 2
To the Reader (1580) Page: 2
Book I Page: 3
1. By diverse means we arrive at the same end (1578–80) Page: 3
2. Of sadness (1572–74) Page: 6
3. Our feelings reach out beyond us (1572–74) Page: 8
4. How the soul discharges its passions on false objects when the true are wanting (1572–74) Page: 14
5. Whether the governor of a besieged place should go out to parley (1572–74) Page: 16
6. Parley time is dangerous (1572–74) Page: 18
7. That intention is judge of our actions (1572–74) Page: 19
8. Of idleness (1572–74) Page: 20
9. Of liars (1572–74) Page: 21
10. Of prompt or slow speech (1572–74) Page: 25
11. Of prognostications (1572–74) Page: 27
12. Of constancy (1572–74) Page: 30
13. Ceremony of interviews between kings (1572–74) Page: 32
14. That the taste of good and evil depends in large part on the opinion we have of them (1572–74) Page: 33
15. One is punished for defending a place obstinately without reason (1572–74) Page: 47
16. Of the punishment of cowardice (1572–74) Page: 48
17. A trait of certain ambassadors (1572–74) Page: 49
18. Of fear (1572–74) Page: 52
19. That our happiness must not be judged until after our death (1572–74) Page: 54
20. That to philosophize is to learn to die (1572–74) Page: 56
21. Of the power of the imagination (1572–74) Page: 68
22. One man’s profit is another man’s harm (1572–80) Page: 76
23. Of custom, and not easily changing an accepted law (1572–74) Page: 77
24. Various outcomes of the same plan (1572–80) Page: 90
25. Of pedantry (1572–78) Page: 97
26. Of the education of children (1579–80) Page: 106
27. It is folly to measure the true and false by our own capacity (1572–74) Page: 132
28. Of friendship (1572–76, 1578–80) Page: 135
29. Twenty–nine sonnets of Etienne de La Boétie (1578–80) Page: 145
30. Of moderation (1572–80) Page: 146
31. Of cannibals (1578–80) Page: 150
32. We should meddle soberly with judging divine ordinances (1572–74) Page: 159
33. To flee from sensual pleasures at the price of life (1572–74) Page: 161
34. Fortune is often met in the path of reason (1572–74) Page: 163
35. Of a lack in our administrations (1572–74) Page: 165
36. Of the custom of wearing clothes (1572–74) Page: 166
37. Of Cato the Younger (1572–74) Page: 169
38. How we cry and laugh for the same thing (1572–74) Page: 172
39. Of solitude (1572–74) Page: 174
40. A consideration upon Cicero (1572–74) Page: 183
41. Of not communicating one’s glory (1572–74) Page: 187
42. Of the inequality that is between us (1572–74) Page: 189
43. Of sumptuary laws (1572–74) Page: 196
44. Of sleep (1572–74) Page: 198
45. Of the battle of Dreux (1572–74) Page: 200
46. Of names (1572–74) Page: 201
47. Of the uncertainty of our judgment (1572–74) Page: 205
48. Of war horses (1572–74) Page: 209
49. Of ancient customs (1572–80) Page: 215
50. Of Democritus and Heraclitus (1572–80) Page: 219
51. Of the vanity of words (1572–80) Page: 221
52. Of the parsimony of the ancients (1572–80) Page: 224
53. Of a saying of Caesar’s (1572–80) Page: 224
54. Of vain subtleties (1572–80) Page: 225
55. Of smells (1572–80) Page: 228
56. Of prayers (1572–80) Page: 229
57. Of age (1572–80) Page: 236
Book II Page: 239
1. Of the inconsistency of our actions (1572–74) Page: 239
2. Of drunkenness (1573–74) Page: 244
3. A custom of the island of Cea (1573–74) Page: 251
4. Let business wait till tomorrow (1573–74) Page: 262
5. Of conscience (1573–74) Page: 264
6. Of practice (1573–74) Page: 267
7. Of honorary awards (1578–80) Page: 275
8. Of the affection of fathers for their children (1578–80) Page: 278
9. Of the arms of the Parthians (1578–80) Page: 293
10. Of books (1578–80) Page: 296
11. Of cruelty (1578–80) Page: 306
12. Apology for Raymond Sebond (1575–76, 1578–80) Page: 318
Sebond and his book, Page: 319
First objection to Sebond: Defense, Page: 321
First objection to Sebond: Conclusion, Page: 326
Second objection to Sebond: The objectors, Page: 327
Second objection to Sebond: Defense, Page: 328
Counterattack: The vanity of man and of man’s knowledge without God, Page: 328
Man is no better than the animals, Page: 330
Man’s knowledge cannot make him happy, Page: 358
Man’s knowledge cannot make him good, Page: 367
Man has no knowledge, Page: 370
Warning to the princess, Page: 418
Man can have no knowledge, Page: 420
The senses are inadequate, Page: 443
Changing man cannot know changing things, Page: 455
Changing man cannot know unchanging God, Page: 455
Conclusion: Man is nothing without God, Page: 457
13. Of judging of the death of others (1572–80) Page: 458
14. How our mind hinders itself (1575–76) Page: 462
15. That our desire is increased by difficulty (1575–76) Page: 463
16. Of glory (1578–80) Page: 468
17. Of presumption (1578–80) Page: 478
18. Of giving the lie (1578–80) Page: 503
19. Of freedom of conscience (1578–80) Page: 506
20. We taste nothing pure (1578–80) Page: 510
21. Against do–nothingness (1578–80) Page: 512
22. Of riding post (1578–80) Page: 515
23. Of evil means employed to a good end (1578–80) Page: 516
24. Of the greatness of Rome (1578–80) Page: 519
25. Not to counterfeit being sick (1578–80) Page: 521
26. Of thumbs (1578–80) Page: 522
27. Cowardice, mother of cruelty (1578–80) Page: 523
28. All things have their season (1578–80) Page: 531
29. Of virtue (1578–80) Page: 532
30. Of a monstrous child (1578–80) Page: 538
31. Of anger (1578–80) Page: 539
32. Defense of Seneca and Plutarch (1578–80) Page: 545
33. The story of Spurina (1578–80) Page: 550
34. Observations on Julius Caesar’s methods of making war (1578–80) Page: 556
35. Of three good women (1578–80) Page: 563
36. Of the most outstanding men (1578–80) Page: 569
37. Of the resemblance of children to fathers (1579–80) Page: 574
Book III Page: 599
1. Of the useful and the honorable (1585–88) Page: 599
2. Of repentance (1585–88) Page: 610
3. Of three kinds of association (1585–88) Page: 621
4. Of diversion (1585–88) Page: 630
5. On some verses of Virgil (1585–88) Page: 638
6. Of coaches (1585–88) Page: 685
7. Of the disadvantage of greatness (1585–88) Page: 699
8. Of the art of discussion (1585–88) Page: 703
9. Of vanity (1585–88) Page: 721
10. Of husbanding your will (1585–88) Page: 766
11. Of cripples (1585–88) Page: 784
12. Of physiognomy (1585–88) Page: 792
13. Of experience (1587–88) Page: 815
Index of Proper Names Page: 859
This new translation of Montaigne's immortal Essays received great acclaim when it was first published in The Complete Works of Montaigne in the 1957 edition. The New York Times said, "It is a matter for rejoicing that we now have available a new translation that offers definite advantages over even the best of its predecessors," and The New Republic stated that this edition gives "a more adequate idea of Montaigne's manner, his straight and unpretentious style, than any of the half-dozen previous English translations."
In his Essays Montaigne warns us from the outset that he has set himself "no goal but a domestic and private one"; yet he is one author whose modernity and universality have been acclaimed by each age since he wrote. Probing into his emotions, attitudes, and behavior, Montaigne reveals to us much about ourselves.
As new editions of the Essays were published during his lifetime, Montaigne interpolated many new passages—often of considerable length. This volume indicates the strata of composition, so that the reader may follow the development of Montaigne's thought over the years. The detailed index provides a convenient means of locating the many famous passages that occur throughout the work.
