Table of Contents
This is the table of contents of Charles Cotton’s 1686 translation of Michel de Montaigne’s Essays. The table of contents of other editions is also available, including that of HyperEssays’s ongoing translation, John Florio’s 1603 translation, and the original Middle French edition.
Book 1
- 1That Men by Various Ways Arrive at the Same End
- 2Of Sorrow
- 3That Our Affections Carry Themselves beyond Us
- 4That the Soul Expends Its Passions upon False Objects, Where the True Are Wanting
- 5Whether the Governor of a Place Besieged Ought Himself to Go Out to Parley
- 6That the Hour of Parley Dangerous
- 7That the Intention Is Judge of Our Actions
- 8Of Idleness
- 9Of Liars
- 10Of Quick or Slow Speech
- 11Of Prognostications
- 12Of Constancy
- 13The Ceremony of the Interview of Princes
- 14That Men Are Justly Punished for Being Obstinate in the Defence of a Fort That Is Not in Reason to Be Defended
- 15Of the Punishment of Cowardice
- 16A Proceeding of Some Ambassadors
- 17Of Fear
- 18That Men Are Not to Judge of Our Happiness till after Death
- 19That to Study Philosopy Is to Learn to Die
- 20Of the Force of Imagination
- 21That the Profit of One Man Is the Damage of Another
- 22Of Custom, and That We Should Not Easily Change a Law Received
- 23Various Events from the Same Counsel
- 24Of Pedantry
- 25Of the Education of Children
- 26That It Is Folly to Measure Truth and Error by Our Own Capacity
- 27Of Friendship
- 28Twenty-Nine Sonnets of Étienne de La Boétie
- 29Of Moderation
- 30Of Cannibals
- 31That a Man Is Soberly to Judge of the Divine Ordinances
- 32That We Are to Avoid Pleasures, Even at the Expense of Life
- 33That Fortune Is Oftentimes Observed to Act by the Rule of Reason
- 34Of One Defect in Our Government
- 35Of the Custom of Wearing Clothes
- 36Of Cato the Younger
- 37That We Laugh and Cry for the Same Thing
- 38Of Solitude
- 39A Consideration upon Cicero
- 40That the Relish for Good and Evil Depends in Great Measure upon the Opinion We Have of Them
- 41Not to Communicate a Man’s Honour
- 42Of the Inequality amongst Us
- 43Of Sumptuary Laws
- 44Of Sleep
- 45Of the Battle of Dreux
- 46Of Names
- 47Of the Uncertainty of Our Judgment
- 48Of War Horses
- 49Of Ancient Customs
- 50Of Democritus and Heraclitus
- 51Of the Vanity of Words
- 52Of the Parsimony of the Ancients
- 53Of a Saying of Caesar
- 54Of Vain Subtleties
- 55Of Smells
- 56Of Prayers
- 57Of Age
Book 2
- 1Of the Inconstancy of Our Actions
- 2Of Drunkenness
- 3A Custom of the Isle of Cea
- 4Tomorrow’s a New Day
- 5Of Conscience
- 6Of Practice
- 7Of Recompenses of Honour
- 8Of the Affection of Fathers to Their Children
- 9Of the Arms of the Parthians
- 10Of Books
- 11Of Cruelty
- 12Apology for Raymond Sebond
- 13Of Judging of the Death of Another
- 14That Our Mind Hinders Itself
- 15That Our Desires Are Augmented by Difficulty
- 16Of Glory
- 17Of Presumption
- 18Of Giving the Lie
- 19Of Liberty of Conscience
- 20That We Taste Nothing Pure
- 21Against Idleness
- 22Of Posting
- 23Of Ill Means Employed to a Good End
- 24Of the Roman Grandeur
- 25Not to Counterfeit Being Sick
- 26Of Thumbs
- 27Cowardice the Mother of Cruelty
- 28All Things Have Their Season
- 29Of Virtue
- 30Of a Monstrous Child
- 31Of Anger
- 32Defence of Seneca and Plutarch
- 33The Story of Spurina
- 34Observation on the Means to Carry on a War According to Julius Caesar
- 35Of Three Good Women
- 36Of the Most Excellent Men
- 37Of the Resemblance of Children to Their Fathers
Book 3
- 1Of Profit and Honesty
- 2Of Repentance
- 3Of Three Commerces
- 4Of Diversion
- 5Of Some Verses of Virgil
- 6Of Coaches
- 7Of the Inconvenience of Greatness
- 8Of the Art of Conference
- 9Of Vanity
- 10Of Managing the Will
- 11Of Cripples
- 12Of Physiognomy
- 13Of Experience