The Complete Essays of Michel de Montaigne

With the goal of describing man with complete frankness and using himself as his most frequent example, de Montaigne published his "Essais" (or "Attempts") in 1580. This collection of 107 chapters encompasses a wide variety of subjects, originally inspired by his study of Latin classics, and later by the lives of the leading figures of his time. Michel de Montaigne saw the most basic elements of man as variety and unpredictability, and this idea permeates the entire work, even as he explore...