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Montaigne, Essais (I,31 et III,6) - Edition bilingue
Peindre la condition humaine, en menant une analyse scrupuleuse de lui-même et de ses contemporains : tel est l'ambitieux projet de Montaigne dans ses Essais. L'auteur regarde ses semblables en « honnête homme », c'est-à-dire sans préjugés. Cette exigence lui permet de voir dans les peuples d'Amérique récemment découverts une civilisation qui n'a de barbare que le nom qu'on lui donne, et de considérer les Européens comme des hommes avides de conquêtes, seulement capables de hâter la perte de ceux qu'ils rencontrent...
96 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
20 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
About the author
Michel de Montaigne
1,797 books1,512 followersMichel Eyquem de Montaigne (1532-1592) was one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance. Montaigne is known for popularizing the essay as a literary genre. He became famous for his effortless ability to merge serious intellectual speculation with casual anecdotes and autobiography—and his massive volume Essais (translated literally as "Attempts") contains, to this day, some of the most widely influential essays ever written. Montaigne had a direct influence on writers the world over, from William Shakespeare to René Descartes, from Ralph Waldo Emerson to Stephan Zweig, from Friedrich Nietzsche to Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He was a conservative and earnest Catholic but, as a result of his anti-dogmatic cast of mind, he is considered the father, alongside his contemporary and intimate friend Étienne de La Boétie, of the "anti-conformist" tradition in French literature.
In his own time, Montaigne was admired more as a statesman then as an author. The tendency in his essays to digress into anecdotes and personal ruminations was seen as detrimental to proper style rather than as an innovation, and his declaration that, "I am myself the matter of my book", was viewed by his contemporaries as self-indulgent. In time, however, Montaigne would be recognized as embodying, perhaps better than any other author of his time, the spirit of freely entertaining doubt which began to emerge at that time. He is most famously known for his skeptical remark, "Que sais-je?" ("What do I know?").
Remarkably modern even to readers today, Montaigne's attempt to examine the world through the lens of the only thing he can depend on implicitly—his own judgment—makes him more accessible to modern readers than any other author of the Renaissance. Much of modern literary nonfiction has found inspiration in Montaigne, and writers of all kinds continue to read him for his masterful balance of intellectual knowledge and personal storytelling.
In his own time, Montaigne was admired more as a statesman then as an author. The tendency in his essays to digress into anecdotes and personal ruminations was seen as detrimental to proper style rather than as an innovation, and his declaration that, "I am myself the matter of my book", was viewed by his contemporaries as self-indulgent. In time, however, Montaigne would be recognized as embodying, perhaps better than any other author of his time, the spirit of freely entertaining doubt which began to emerge at that time. He is most famously known for his skeptical remark, "Que sais-je?" ("What do I know?").
Remarkably modern even to readers today, Montaigne's attempt to examine the world through the lens of the only thing he can depend on implicitly—his own judgment—makes him more accessible to modern readers than any other author of the Renaissance. Much of modern literary nonfiction has found inspiration in Montaigne, and writers of all kinds continue to read him for his masterful balance of intellectual knowledge and personal storytelling.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
August 7, 2021
a very interesting read, although i wouldn't say i necessarily enjoyed it. the writing was great and it was fascinating to see such a novel and advanced way of thinking—Montaigne was definitely well ahead of his time—but it lacked a little something for me to fully appreciate it.
March 17, 2020
(Paper 3 Prelims French Oxford)
August 4, 2023
Des phrases longues tah Proust
March 30, 2024
j’ai seulement lu des cannibales car c’est pour cela que j’ai acheté ce livre et franchement 5/5. rien a dire. j’aime beaucoup la pensée de Montaigne même si c’est une plume un peu complexe (en même temps on est à la renaissance). je me tâterai bien à lire ses essais un de ces jours si ce chapitre représente sa façon de penser!
March 21, 2022
j'ai pas aimé du tout
June 14, 2025
Chess or The Royal Game by Stefan Zweig is ranked 857th on The Greatest Books of All Time site, but in my Top 200, along with Twenty- Four Hours in The Life of A Woman, my take on it is on the blog, where the best review is https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...
10 out of 10
‘Isn’t it appallingly easy to think yourself a great man when you’re not burdened by the faintest notion that men like Rembrandt, Beethoven, Dante or Napoleon ever lived?’ this is just one of the insightful, thought provoking statements or questions you find in this Royal (indeed) Game story, and this is another one: ‘the more a man restricts himself the closer he is, conversely, to infinity’, to have the conclusion right here:
- This is an extraordinary, short, captivating narrative
Twenty-four Hours in The Life of A Woman https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... is just as fabulous, although they have different settings and types of characters – one of the main ones in Schachnovelle is Mirko Czentovic, the world chess champion that is on board this ship…
That is to leave New York for Buenos Aires in the beginning of the story, one that will become familiar for readers, if not quite loveable, on the contrary, he is not exactly the ‘villain’, but let us just say we do not want him to win, at least I did not, in spite of his past, of which we learn soon, this novella is only around one hundred pages long
I am not sure if he was Slovenian or Slavonian – whatever the latter might mean, it is what we have in the text – if the former, then he would share origins with that loathsome figure, wife of Orange Jesus, a person I dislike (euphemism) and not just by her association with the worst leader of the free world, but on her own ‘merits’
Czentovic has had almost no education, and we can see this in his misbehavior lack of panache and all, but he is to be admired for his special talent, he explodes on the scene of chess out of nowhere, he just sees the game, first wins against a modest amateur, then wins a local competition and soon gets to be world champion
He plays for money and that will be the incentive used on board the ship – ‘the mysterious attraction of the ‘royal game’, the only game ever devised by mankind that rises magnificently above the tyranny of chance, awarding the palm of victory solely to the mind, or rather to a certain kind of mental gift’ plays its tricks here
McConnor is one of the passengers on the ship, impetuous and determined to have a game of chess with the world champion, having those interested join to try and oppose the much better player, and for the right sum, Mirko Czentovic is willing to participate, and evidently, he wins, but not in the following stages, when we have a surprise
There are people watching, even from the crew, waiters, and one man intervenes at one point, when a wrong move is about to be made on the chess board, and eventually, he is the one who will obtain a draw – by now, a spoiler alert might be needed, or it is just too late, I am carried away usually, and not sure anyone is reading
So far in the note anyway – when they see the result of the intervention of this stranger, the community of those playing against the champion are thrilled and they clearly want to see if there is more, maybe even a victory and McConnor insists on having another match, only the savior refuses saying he is not going to play again
Nevertheless, the players talk to the narrator, and seeing that they are both Austrians, the good player and the narrator, he will approach this man, we will know him as Dr. B, and thus we all find about his traumatizing past – he has worked in this firm, representing important clients, members of the imperial family
Then the second world war started, the Nazis took over Austria – I think it was called Anschluss – and then Dr. B. and many others would suffer the consequences, they had had very discreet dealings with monasteries, the aristocrats, handling money, transfers, secret documents, but they had a traitor in their midst
This fellow would talk to the Gestapo, they arrested Dr. B. and his trauma would start, they would not send him to the death camps, because they wanted to extract information, names from him, which would lead to great sums of money, so they used a terrible method, the one of isolation, complete and heinous
Studies have shown that isolation is deadlier, twice as much, than smoking, and in the case of our chap, it had horrendous consequences, the isolated captive felt he would lose his mind, until he finds a book in the pocket of a coat, which he steals and is disappointed with, because it was with 150 games of chess, played between champions
However, it proved to be his redemption, or downfall, it is like in that Zen Master story – the one in which he keeps saying we shall see, which is on my blog, links are above and below, if you just dropped here, because the prisoner starts learning those by heart and can fill his empty hours with this activity, until it is too much
Dr. B becomes obsessed from the point where he is bored with the 150 and then starts playing against himself, he ends up in a hospital, in danger of being destroyed by what they may now call Obsessive Compulsive Behavior…he does accept to play one more time against the champion, and…he wins, but ‘We shall see’ is the conclusion, since the winner becomes again agitated, overcome by that old feverish, intense compulsion
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
10 out of 10
‘Isn’t it appallingly easy to think yourself a great man when you’re not burdened by the faintest notion that men like Rembrandt, Beethoven, Dante or Napoleon ever lived?’ this is just one of the insightful, thought provoking statements or questions you find in this Royal (indeed) Game story, and this is another one: ‘the more a man restricts himself the closer he is, conversely, to infinity’, to have the conclusion right here:
- This is an extraordinary, short, captivating narrative
Twenty-four Hours in The Life of A Woman https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... is just as fabulous, although they have different settings and types of characters – one of the main ones in Schachnovelle is Mirko Czentovic, the world chess champion that is on board this ship…
That is to leave New York for Buenos Aires in the beginning of the story, one that will become familiar for readers, if not quite loveable, on the contrary, he is not exactly the ‘villain’, but let us just say we do not want him to win, at least I did not, in spite of his past, of which we learn soon, this novella is only around one hundred pages long
I am not sure if he was Slovenian or Slavonian – whatever the latter might mean, it is what we have in the text – if the former, then he would share origins with that loathsome figure, wife of Orange Jesus, a person I dislike (euphemism) and not just by her association with the worst leader of the free world, but on her own ‘merits’
Czentovic has had almost no education, and we can see this in his misbehavior lack of panache and all, but he is to be admired for his special talent, he explodes on the scene of chess out of nowhere, he just sees the game, first wins against a modest amateur, then wins a local competition and soon gets to be world champion
He plays for money and that will be the incentive used on board the ship – ‘the mysterious attraction of the ‘royal game’, the only game ever devised by mankind that rises magnificently above the tyranny of chance, awarding the palm of victory solely to the mind, or rather to a certain kind of mental gift’ plays its tricks here
McConnor is one of the passengers on the ship, impetuous and determined to have a game of chess with the world champion, having those interested join to try and oppose the much better player, and for the right sum, Mirko Czentovic is willing to participate, and evidently, he wins, but not in the following stages, when we have a surprise
There are people watching, even from the crew, waiters, and one man intervenes at one point, when a wrong move is about to be made on the chess board, and eventually, he is the one who will obtain a draw – by now, a spoiler alert might be needed, or it is just too late, I am carried away usually, and not sure anyone is reading
So far in the note anyway – when they see the result of the intervention of this stranger, the community of those playing against the champion are thrilled and they clearly want to see if there is more, maybe even a victory and McConnor insists on having another match, only the savior refuses saying he is not going to play again
Nevertheless, the players talk to the narrator, and seeing that they are both Austrians, the good player and the narrator, he will approach this man, we will know him as Dr. B, and thus we all find about his traumatizing past – he has worked in this firm, representing important clients, members of the imperial family
Then the second world war started, the Nazis took over Austria – I think it was called Anschluss – and then Dr. B. and many others would suffer the consequences, they had had very discreet dealings with monasteries, the aristocrats, handling money, transfers, secret documents, but they had a traitor in their midst
This fellow would talk to the Gestapo, they arrested Dr. B. and his trauma would start, they would not send him to the death camps, because they wanted to extract information, names from him, which would lead to great sums of money, so they used a terrible method, the one of isolation, complete and heinous
Studies have shown that isolation is deadlier, twice as much, than smoking, and in the case of our chap, it had horrendous consequences, the isolated captive felt he would lose his mind, until he finds a book in the pocket of a coat, which he steals and is disappointed with, because it was with 150 games of chess, played between champions
However, it proved to be his redemption, or downfall, it is like in that Zen Master story – the one in which he keeps saying we shall see, which is on my blog, links are above and below, if you just dropped here, because the prisoner starts learning those by heart and can fill his empty hours with this activity, until it is too much
Dr. B becomes obsessed from the point where he is bored with the 150 and then starts playing against himself, he ends up in a hospital, in danger of being destroyed by what they may now call Obsessive Compulsive Behavior…he does accept to play one more time against the champion, and…he wins, but ‘We shall see’ is the conclusion, since the winner becomes again agitated, overcome by that old feverish, intense compulsion
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
December 9, 2015
The story of Des cannibals the story is about the way culture was different back in the old days. Montaigne talks about how he is talking to someone from the new world in brazil in 1557. Montaigne talks about the barbarians. He talks about how they are barbarians because they do things different than most people. This paper showed me that you shouldn’t base your perception on people because they are different then you. He talks about how they felt that when you killed a prisoner or someone in war you needed to eat the person to get honor. Throughout the work he gives different examples about how they do things different then we do now. Back then killing was ok as long as you got honor from it. They also found it ok to send pieces of the body to their friends that couldn’t join them in the festivities of eating the dead. Although we do things differently in this day and age we can still be called barbaric. We find it ok to kill another man in the war the only difference is we don’t wat the people. You can’t call someone barbaric based on their culture, because you wouldn’t want anyone to call you barbaric because of your culture. In conclusion I gave this story all five stars because not only is it a story that teaches you something new, but it also makes you reevaluate the way you judge people.
read-for-uni
September 1, 2017Read for uni course. I though Des Cannibales was better; Des Coches felt a bit all over the place, even when I reread it in the English.
March 10, 2021
très bon, malheureusement je pense que le fait de le lire dans le cadre scolaire gâche un peu le plaisir
Read
March 23, 2023Montaigne 🤌
January 23, 2022
Ouvrage très intéressant mais très fastidieux à lire du fait que cela soit écrit en vieux français. On passe son temps à aller en bas de page au niveau des notes pour mieux comprendre.
Montaigne, dans ses Essais, décrit la malhonnêteté des conquistadors européens vis-à-vis des peuples rencontrés. Par leur duplicité, ils ont trompé, tué et asservi nombres d'indigènes. Montaigne démontre la dignité des peuples conquis et leur savoir qui montrent que ceux qui ont été considérés comme des sous-hommes étaient finalement bien avance sur nous dans nombres de domaines. D'ailleurs, Montaigne indique que c'est ce qui les a perdu finalement.
A la fin de la partie de Cannibales, ce sont les indigènes, qui s'interrogent sur le mode de vie européens. En ne comprenant pas, comment que ce soit un enfant roi qui dirige et non une personne adulte qui a forcément plus d'expériences. Et d’autres part, ils ne comprennent pourquoi les pauvres qui vivent dans la rue ne viennent s'en prendre aux riches qui les ignorent. Dans leur société, il y a plus de justice et plus d'égalité. Il n'y a pas de sous-hommes. Montaigne s'interroge à savoir qui est plus civilisé finalement.
Il met en avant qu'il a plus d'estime pour des perdants vaillants et qu'une défaite peut s'avérer dans l'absolu une victoire, que pour des assaillants truqueurs et menteurs. A vaincre sans péril, on triomphe sans gloire.
Montaigne, dans ses Essais, décrit la malhonnêteté des conquistadors européens vis-à-vis des peuples rencontrés. Par leur duplicité, ils ont trompé, tué et asservi nombres d'indigènes. Montaigne démontre la dignité des peuples conquis et leur savoir qui montrent que ceux qui ont été considérés comme des sous-hommes étaient finalement bien avance sur nous dans nombres de domaines. D'ailleurs, Montaigne indique que c'est ce qui les a perdu finalement.
A la fin de la partie de Cannibales, ce sont les indigènes, qui s'interrogent sur le mode de vie européens. En ne comprenant pas, comment que ce soit un enfant roi qui dirige et non une personne adulte qui a forcément plus d'expériences. Et d’autres part, ils ne comprennent pourquoi les pauvres qui vivent dans la rue ne viennent s'en prendre aux riches qui les ignorent. Dans leur société, il y a plus de justice et plus d'égalité. Il n'y a pas de sous-hommes. Montaigne s'interroge à savoir qui est plus civilisé finalement.
Il met en avant qu'il a plus d'estime pour des perdants vaillants et qu'une défaite peut s'avérer dans l'absolu une victoire, que pour des assaillants truqueurs et menteurs. A vaincre sans péril, on triomphe sans gloire.
March 9, 2025
firstly I read the English translation and secondly I read it while having an allergic reaction, so I might not be the most informed person to be making a review here. Buttttt I did find this early example of postcolonialism to be extremely interesting - particularly in light of the tempest being published only a few years later, and being significantly worse in terms of its representation of POC. The hypocrisies that Montaigne illustrates are very true… even if idk if I can fully get behind the whole cannibalism thing 😰
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 25, 2024
concerning ‘des cannibales’ (i haven’t read the other), this was a really great essay which explored some v beautiful ideas about different cultures, morality & respect.
i wish everyone saw the world this way!!
i wish everyone saw the world this way!!
September 21, 2021
an ..interesting.. take on cannibals; i did find his take on the barbaric vs civilised thought-provoking but not a super easy read, fruit analogy to represent his ideas was good!
Read
January 5, 2022c'était vraiment intéressant, seulement à la suite de plusieurs dissert ce livre a finit par me laisser a bittersweet taste
Read
January 30, 20223 years later, I'm still as confused as I was when I first read this book.
March 26, 2022
Pas ouf , c’est un livre de cours quoi
April 27, 2022
A very good approach for maybe the first ethnological analysis of all times.
October 2, 2022
je l'avais lu pour le bac de français, un de mes pires souvenirs
January 13, 2023
traumatazing
April 15, 2023
"Chacun nomme barbarie ce qui n'est pas de son usage" a littéralement changé ma life
May 30, 2023
nobody:
Montaigne: ils le rôtissent et en mangent en commun et en envoient des lopins à ceux de leurs amis qui sont absents
poor guy got cooked and delivered :D big SLAY
Montaigne: ils le rôtissent et en mangent en commun et en envoient des lopins à ceux de leurs amis qui sont absents
poor guy got cooked and delivered :D big SLAY
July 17, 2023
Mon amoureux
December 3, 2023
J’ai rien compris, je sais même quoi c’était quoi le but de ce livre
December 27, 2023
The Montaigne class this semester was crazy
January 24, 2024
Et si on le faisait lire aux politiques ? Ça leur ferait du bien
May 10, 2024
Mais pareil j’ai rien compris je n’ai pas peur de le dire Montaigne va te faire enculé
September 5, 2024
Montaigne - ahead of his time in his perception of European religious hypocrisy, the beauty of nature/wilderness v. the forced perfection of European society, & more. Who knew!
September 25, 2024
Montaigne est vraiment le goat qu'il croit être
December 12, 2024
For FR1
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews