Skip to main content.

Selected Essays of Michel de Montaigne

Michel Eyquem de Montaigne

Michel de Montaigne was a contemporary of Shakespeare who, after having played his part in France's terrible wars of religion, retired to his estates and decided to write about what he knew best--himself. And so in his likes and dislikes, his reflections on history, his loves and his travels, he brought to life, not just one man, but all human experience. "What do I know?" he asked. If not himself and his own soul, then nothing else. (Summary by Pamela Nagami, M.D.)
(0 hr 22 min)

Chapters

That Men by Various Ways Arrive at the Same End

12:04

8:25

That the Soul Discharges her Passions upon False Objects, Where the True Are Wa…

6:28

That the Intention is Judge of Our Actions

4:51

16:22

Of Quick and Slow Speech

6:59

7:25

7:43

That Men are Not to Judge of Our Happiness til after Death

7:33

That It Is Folly to Measure Truth and Error by Our Own Capacity

10:56

30:47

That a Man is Soberly to Judge of the Divine Ordinances

6:33

Of the Custom of Wearing Clothes

9:39

That We Laugh and Cry for the Same Thing

8:13

31:57

Of the Inequality among Us

23:09

Of Ancient Customs

9:19

Of the Vanity of Words

9:23

26:34

Of Books, Pt. 1

18:33

Of Books, Pt. 2

21:17

Of Cruelty, Pt. 1

21:39

Of Cruelty, Pt. 2

17:52

Of the Inconstancy of Our Actions

18:20

Use Makes Perfect, Pt. 1

15:27

Use Makes Perfect, Pt. 2

16:22

Of Glory, Pt. 1

18:31

Of Glory, Pt. 2

18:31

Of Presumption, Pt. 1

19:52

Of Presumption, Pt. 2

21:24

Of Presumption, Pt. 3

21:56

Of Presumption, Pt. 4

25:00

Of Giving the Lie

12:36

Of Liberty of Conscience

12:15

20:49

21:18

Of Profit and Honesty, Pt. 1

13:09

Of Profit and Honesty, Pt. 2

16:56

Of Profit and Honesty, Pt. 3

16:44

Of Repentance, Pt. 1

14:15

Of Repentance, Pt. 2

13:17

Of Repentance, Pt. 3

16:53

Of the Inconvenience of Greatness

15:46

Of Managing the Will, Pt. 1

23:10

Of Managing the Will, Pt. 2

22:48

Of Managing the Will, Pt. 3

23:55