Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete

How it opens

Of all egotists, Montaigne, if not the greatest, was the most fascinating, because, perhaps, he was the least affected and most truthful. What he did, and what he had professed to do, was to dissect his mind, and show us, as best he could, how it was made, and what relation it bore to external objects. He investigated his mental structure as a schoolboy pulls his watch to pieces, to examine the mechanism of the works…

Details

• AuthorMichel de Montaigne
• SourceProject Gutenberg #3600
• Length523,489 words · 34h 54m of reading
• Chapters130
• DictionaryNot yet generated
• CopyrightPublic domain in the United States
• Source checked2026-08-28

Contents

130 chapters

Recovered from the original source text, so you can open the book at any of them.

1. 01ESSAYS OF MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE
2. 02BOOK THE FIRST.
3. 03THE LIFE OF MONTAIGNE
4. 04To Monsieur de MONTAIGNE
5. 05MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE
6. 06To Monsieur, Monsieur de L’HOSPITAL, Chancellor of France
7. 07THE AUTHOR TO THE READER.--[Omitted by Cotton.]
8. 08BOOK THE FIRST
9. 09CHAPTER I
10. 10OF SORROW
11. 11THAT OUR AFFECTIONS CARRY THEMSELVES BEYOND US
12. 12CHAPTER IV
13. 13CHAPTER V
14. 14THAT THE HOUR OF PARLEY DANGEROUS
15. 15THAT THE INTENTION IS JUDGE OF OUR ACTIONS
16. 16OF IDLENESS
17. 17OF LIARS
18. 18OF QUICK OR SLOW SPEECH
19. 19OF PROGNOSTICATIONS
20. 20OF CONSTANCY
21. 21Edited by William Carew Hazlitt
22. 22THE CEREMONY OF THE INTERVIEW OF PRINCES
23. 23CHAPTER XIV
24. 24OF THE PUNISHMENT OF COWARDICE
25. 25A PROCEEDING OF SOME AMBASSADORS
26. 26OF FEAR
27. 27CHAPTER XVIII
28. 28THAT TO STUDY PHILOSOPY IS TO LEARN TO DIE
29. 29OF THE FORCE OF IMAGINATION
30. 30THAT THE PROFIT OF ONE MAN IS THE DAMAGE OF ANOTHER
31. 31CHAPTER XXII
32. 32VARIOUS EVENTS FROM THE SAME COUNSEL
33. 33OF PEDANTRY
34. 34Edited by William Carew Hazlitt
35. 35TO MADAME DIANE DE FOIX, Comtesse de Gurson
36. 36CHAPTER XXVI
37. 37Edited by William Carew Hazlitt
38. 38OF FRIENDSHIP
39. 39NINE AND TWENTY SONNETS OF ESTIENNE DE LA BOITIE
40. 40OF MODERATION
41. 41OF CANNIBALS
42. 42THAT A MAN IS SOBERLY TO JUDGE OF THE DIVINE ORDINANCES
43. 43THAT WE ARE TO AVOID PLEASURES, EVEN AT THE EXPENSE OF LIFE
44. 44CHAPTER XXXIII
45. 45The inconstancy and various motions of Fortune
46. 46OF ONE DEFECT IN OUR GOVERNMENT
47. 47OF THE CUSTOM OF WEARING CLOTHES
48. 48OF CATO THE YOUNGER
49. 49THAT WE LAUGH AND CRY FOR THE SAME THING
50. 50OF SOLITUDE
51. 51Edited by William Carew Hazlitt
52. 52A CONSIDERATION UPON CICERO
53. 53CHAPTER XL
54. 54NOT TO COMMUNICATE A MAN’S HONOUR
55. 55CHAPTER XLII
56. 56OF SUMPTUARY LAWS
57. 57OF SLEEP
58. 58OF THE BATTLE OF DREUX
59. 59OF NAMES
60. 60OF THE UNCERTAINTY OF OUR JUDGMENT
61. 61Edited by William Carew Hazlitt
62. 62OF WAR HORSES, OR DESTRIERS
63. 63OF ANCIENT CUSTOMS
64. 64OF DEMOCRITUS AND HERACLITUS
65. 65OF THE VANITY OF WORDS
66. 66OF THE PARSIMONY OF THE ANCIENTS
67. 67OF A SAYING OF CAESAR
68. 68OF VAIN SUBTLETIES
69. 69Popular and purely natural poesy
70. 70OF SMELLS
71. 71OF PRAYERS
72. 72OF AGE
73. 73Edited by William Carew Hazlitt
74. 74OF THE INCONSTANCY OF OUR ACTIONS
75. 75OF DRUNKENNESS
76. 76A CUSTOM OF THE ISLE OF CEA
77. 77TO-MORROW’S A NEW DAY
78. 78OF CONSCIENCE
79. 79USE MAKES PERFECT
80. 80Edited by William Carew Hazlitt
81. 81OF RECOMPENSES OF HONOUR
82. 82OF THE AFFECTION OF FATHERS TO THEIR CHILDREN
83. 83OF THE ARMS OF THE PARTHIANS
84. 84OF BOOKS
85. 85OF CRUELTY
86. 86Chapter XII. Apology For Raimond Sebond.
87. 87Edited by William Carew Hazlitt
88. 88OF JUDGING OF THE DEATH OF ANOTHER
89. 89THAT OUR MIND HINDERS ITSELF
90. 90THAT OUR DESIRES ARE AUGMENTED BY DIFFICULTY
91. 91OF GLORY
92. 92OF PRESUMPTION
93. 93Edited by William Carew Hazlitt
94. 94OF GIVING THE LIE
95. 95OF LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE
96. 96THAT WE TASTE NOTHING PURE
97. 97AGAINST IDLENESS
98. 98OF POSTING
99. 99OF ILL MEANS EMPLOYED TO A GOOD END
100. 100OF THE ROMAN GRANDEUR
101. 101NOT TO COUNTERFEIT BEING SICK
102. 102OF THUMBS
103. 103COWARDICE THE MOTHER OF CRUELTY
104. 104ALL THINGS HAVE THEIR SEASON
105. 105OF VIRTUE
106. 106OF A MONSTROUS CHILD
107. 107OF ANGER
108. 108Edited by William Carew Hazlitt
109. 109DEFENCE OF SENECA AND PLUTARCH
110. 110THE STORY OF SPURINA
111. 111CHAPTER XXXIV
112. 112OF THREE GOOD WOMEN
113. 113OF THE MOST EXCELLENT MEN
114. 114OF THE RESEMBLANCE OF CHILDREN TO THEIR FATHERS
115. 115Edited by William Carew Hazlitt
116. 116OF PROFIT AND HONESTY
117. 117OF REPENTANCE
118. 118OF THREE COMMERCES
119. 119OF DIVERSION
120. 120CHAPTER V.
121. 121Edited by William Carew Hazlitt
122. 122OF COACHES
123. 123OF THE INCONVENIENCE OF GREATNESS
124. 124OF THE ART OF CONFERENCE
125. 125OF VANITY
126. 126Edited by William Carew Hazlitt
127. 127OF MANAGING THE WILL
128. 128OF CRIPPLES
129. 129OF PHYSIOGNOMY
130. 130OF EXPERIENCE

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