Table Of Content

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

Description:

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.