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Other than in the entry under his name, Michel de Montaigne is referred to as M. Footnotes have not been indexed
acting, 72
advice, 243
Aeschylus, 22
affectation, 67
Agesilaus (King of Sparta), 191, 192
Agrigentines, 126
Albuquerque, Alphonso d’ (Portuguese viceroy), 97
Alcibiades (Athenian general and politician), 61, 331, 372, 385, 412, 417
Alcmaeon of Crotona (Greek physician), 215
Alexander III (‘the Great’)
anger at others’ bravery, 7–8
Aristotle’s teaching, 57
drunkenness, 134
experiencing pleasure, 415
flatterers, 380
greatest man who was simply man, 22
immortalization, 425
inconsistency, 129
on sexual intercourse, 305
Thalestris’ hospitality, 314
victories preferred to children, 167
virtue only on world stage, 238
working for work’s sake, 421
Ammianus Marcellinus (Roman historian), 11
Anacreon (love poet), 322
anatomical dissection, 87
Anaxarchus (Greek philosopher), 140
Andreosso (husband of Joanna of Naples), 315
Andros the Argive, 385
animals
equality with man in sexual intercourse, 305–6
metempsychosis, 182–3
M’s sympathy for, 181–5
in public games, 338–9
reverencing, 183–5
solemn burial, 185
anticipation, 332
Antigonus Gonatus (King of Macedonia), 273, 362
Antigonus ‘the one-eyed’ (Alexander’s general), 127
Antinonides (Greek musician), 302
Antisthenes (Stoic philosopher), 100, 203, 281, 329
Antony, Mark, 333–4
Apollodorus (Athenian grammarian), 145
Arcadians, 211
Arcesilaus (Greek philosopher), 138, 169–70, 326
Archelaus (King of Macedonia), 268
Archimedes, 424
Areopagus, Athens, 357
Argenterius, Johannes (physician), 217
arguments
authors piling cause upon cause, 330
learning from, 375
before a meal, 407
M’s, lowly and modest, 422
soundness of, 47–9
weak, supported by challenges, 358
against widely held opinions, 354
Aristarchus of Samothrace (Greek grammarian), 377
Aristippus (Cyrenaic philosopher), 176, 281, 313, 415
Ariston of Chios (Stoic philosopher), 268, 281
Aristotle
clarity of language, 367
educating Alexander, 57
literary style, 301
on: bodily pleasures, 414; coyness, 269; death, 306; dreams, 404; festivals, 334; love, 150; miserliness, 152; private virtue, 237; sex in marriage, 272; sneezing, 330–31
Secreta secretorum, 81–2
Arria (wife of Caecinna Paetus), 196–7
Asa (King of judah), 225
Asclepiades (Greek physician), 215
Athens, 276
Attalus (Stoic philosopher), 386
Augustine, St
confessing error of opinions, 268
on: doubting human testimony, 359; miracles, 77–8; nudity, 285
writings, 167
Augustus Caesar, 121, 125, 381, 407
Ausonius (Roman poet), 222–3
Baldus (Italian jurist), 367
Bartolo (Italian jurist), 367
beauty
French and Italian women compared, 312
privilege of noblewomen, 256
ugliness of artifice, 326
in women over thirty, 327
beggars, 386
belief
believing the incredible, 190–91
in supernatural, 359
Betis (commander of Gaza), 7–8
Bodin, Jean (French writer), 187–91
Boleslaus (King of Poland), 279
Boniface VII, Pope, 124
books
as brain-children, see brain-children
burning, 166
collecting, 259
conscience strengthening, 245
glosses increasing ignorance, 367, 368
joy and health outweighing, 105
M’s consolation, 257–9
over-reliance on, 384–5
reading: amidst noise, 385; arousing reason, 248; in education, 53–4; women’s, 252. See also under Montaigne, Michel de
Bourbon, Charles, Duke of, 13
bowel movements, 388–9
Brahmans, 255
brain-children
immortality of, 165
preferable to real children, 167
bravery
and folly, 140–41
French and Italian compared, 312
inconsistency of, 127–9
prerequisite to fear, 331
softening a tyrant’s heart, 7–8
in soldiering, 402
under torture, 189–90
Brutus, Marcus, 416
Buchanan, George (M’s Scottish tutor), 69, 72
building as though never to die, 126
Bussaguet, Sieur de (M’s brother), 209
cabbages, death to find M planting, 27
Calvinism, 186
Cannae, battle of (216 BC), 12
cannibalism, 86
capital punishment
for cowardice, 11–12
cruel penalties beyond, 179–80
defence resting on barrister’s skill, 372
at scene of crime, 20
Carneades (Athenian philosopher), 363
Carthage, 15–16
Catherine de’ Medici, 335
Cato the Censor (the Elder)
heavy drinker, 135
long life without doctors, 211
on valets, 159
Cato Uticensis (the Younger)
constancy of character, 126
on his attempted suicide, 120
pleasure in pain of death, 172–3
Caupène, Baron de, 223
Celsus (Roman medical writer), 230
centos, 40, 40n
chance governing lives, 130
Charles V (Emperor), 155
Charles IX (King of France), 91, 186
Charondas (Sicilian lawgiver), 11
Chasan (Mahomet II’s commander), 128
chastity
duty of, wide-ranging, 291
men’s ideal of, 293–4
temptation as prerequisite, 287
through incapacity, 245
women boasting of, 292–4
Chelonis (wife of Cleombrotus), 406
children
brain-children, see brain-children
father’s relations with, 156–7, 160
freedom leading to moderation, 312–13
indulgent parents, 46
suckling by nanny-goats, 164
toughening souls and muscles, 46–7
China, justice in, 372–3
Chrysippus (Stoic philosopher), 39, 87, 282, 412
Cicero, Marcus Tullius
eloquence, 65
on: constancy, 129; leisure, 248
treating illness, 400
Claudius (Roman emperor), 196, 298–9
Cleanthes (Stoic philosopher), 66, 281
Clement V (Pope), 22
Cleombrotus (King of Sparta), 406
Cleomenes I (King of Sparta), 64–5
Clitomachus (Greek writer), 363
Clodia Laeta (Vestal Virgin), 279
coaches
excessive use by monarchs, 333–4
M’s dislike of, 332
shaking arouses ladies, 362
in war, 333–4
coastal erosion, 81
colic paroxysms, see gallstones
confession, 266–9
Conrad III (German king), 6
conscience
emending itself by itself, 245
giving assurance, 145–6
M’s: happy with itself, 234; own standards, 236
no hiding-place awaits the wicked, 145
power of, 143–4
pride accompanying good, 235
role in torture, 146–7
conversation
of honourable and talented men, 253–4
loud voices, 391–2
M’s: on journeys, 304; lack of warmth, 249; trivialities, 353
polite, 248–9
showing off knowledge, 251–2
to suit all levels, 250–51
training in, 47–9
way of some women, 311
Coras, Jean de (Toulouse lawyer), 357
Cordus, Greuntius (Cremutius) (Roman historian), 166
courage, see bravery
courtiers
judgement corrupted, 48
liars, 267
wise men to avoid, 97
covetousness, 337
cowardice
over pain, 204–6
punishing, 11–12
coyness, 269
Cranaus (King of Athens), 411
Crantor (Greek philosopher), 392
Crassus, Marcus (Agelastus), 266
Crates of Thebes (Cynic philosopher), 368
Cratippus (Peripatetic philosopher), 304
crime and punishment, 144
Critolas (Peripatetic philosopher), 414
Croesus (King of Lydia), 337
cruelty
hunting, 181–2
M’s cruel hatred of, 177–9
Roman tyrants, 179
Tamberlane, 203
in Wars of Religion, 181
see also torture
Ctesiphon, 394
cuckoldry, 288–9, 295–6, 298–9
curiosity, 78
Cyrus the Great, 135, 325, 337
death
advantages of, 35
anticipation of, 332
from being alive: not from sickness, 396–7
euphemisms for, 21
fear more unbearable, 15
glory of, 306–7
gradual, 407–8
lamenting for dead, 179
in the lavatory, 94
life to be amputated when healthy, 203
more abject in bed than in combat, 402
natural, 120
one with life, 173
philosophizing as preparation for, 17
Plato on, 408
self-indulgent, 201
widows’ lamentations, 194–5
without regret, 420
see also capital punishment
Della Villa (Italian spa), 222
Demosthenes, 334
dew, 388
Diocles (Greek physician), 215
Diogenes of Sinope
eating habits, 412
Dion Cassius (Roman historian), 187
Dion Chrysostomus (Sophist philosopher), 327
Dionysius the Elder (‘the Tyrant’), 7, 336
discoveries of new lands, 79–82, 342
see also New World
doctors
claiming credit for all cures, 212
contempt for, 208–11
disagreements among, 215–17
excuses for failures, 212–13
feebleness apparent, 215
freedom to lie to, 213
killing with impunity, 214
lack of experience of illnesses, 382–3
mistakes and inconsistencies, 217–21
M’s toleration of, 225–6
Plato on, 366
reputation and fee of most concern, 215
ruining health of remote community, 223–4
sending patients away, 230
treating themselves, 226
trust of patient, 214
see also medicine
Dordogne, river, 81
dress
careless and natural, 67–8
gentlemen at home, 334
M’s: in old age, 410; when young, 334
overdressing, 326
drinking
doing without, 385
drunkenness: brutishness of, 133–4; classical philosophers on, 135; lechery weakening stomachs, 136–7; at meals, 136; and wisdom, 139
familiarity with, 61
fine palate to be avoided, 136
knowledge of wine does not add to enjoyment, 352
M’s habits, 410–11
national customs, 384
by natural man, 85
at Sorbonne, 416
when overheated, 224
wine: bad for sick, 390; as precursor to love-making, 409; as remedy, 211; savouring in youth, 263
Druids, 182–3
drunkenness, see drinking
Drusus, Julius (Marcus Livius), 237
Duras, Madame de, 228
duty mixed with pleasure, 415–17
eating
abstemiousness, 409
banquet: Varro’s prescription for, 413
conviviality of, 407, 409, 412
habits, 383, 387–8, 405, 406–7
long sittings at table, 406–7
masticating graciously, 412
music at dinner, 412
in public, 307
ecstasy, 190–91
education
book-learning as ornament, not foundation, 45
foreign travel, 46
inner form struggling against, 239
knowing and not knowing, 52
learning to understand the learned, 369
love of study, 73
mixing with people, 46
M on his own, 37–8
natural tendencies not overmastered by, 238–9
over-devotion to study, 58–9
personal judgement formed, 44–5
philosophy, 54–9
of princes, 335
punishments, 59–60
purpose of 41–2
reading, 53–4
reason rather than force in, 153
recognition of whole world, 50–51
recognizing true virtue, 55–6
as rule of life, 62–3
severe gentleness, 59
social behaviour, 60–62
soundness of arguments, 47–9
spirit of inquiry, 49–50
tutor – child relationship, 43
women’s, 329
Edward, Prince of Wales (Black Prince), 5
eggs, likeness of, 364
Egyptians
all doctors, 226
law on mummifying beautiful young women, 310–11
medicine: risks, 213; specialisms, 219
sensuality, 189
envy, 288
Epaminondas (Theban general), 6–7, 167, 170, 417
Epicharis (Roman courtesan), 189
Epicurean School of philosophy, 169–71, 282
Epicurus
death of, 167
grunting with exertion, 205–6
on: consciences, 145; law-making, 365; pain and pleasure, 209; wise men remaining wise, 332
equity, 32
Erasistratus (Greek physician), 215
Erasmus, Desiderius, 238
Essenes, 306
Estissac, Mme de, 148–9
etiquette of public figures, 388
Eudoxus (Greek astronomer), 419
Evenus (Greek poet), 384
exaggeration, 354
experience
doctors’ lack of, 381–3
failure to benefit from, 374
knowing one’s self, 51
leading to knowledge, 364
limiting belief, 74–5
medical treatment adapted by, 389–92
M’s pure presentation of, 381
wisdom from one’s own, 375–6
families
few men are wonders to, 237
private and public behaviour, 236–7
fantasies, 262
fathers
affection for children: age difference, 154–5; brain-children preferred, 165–8; family ganging up, 159; growing as child grows, 151; inheritance, 151; jealousy, 151; Law of Nature, 150; perfect and absolute communication, 160–61; use of word ‘father’ 157
inherited characteristics, 207–9
fear
affecting senses, 13–14
of being afraid, 400
causing danger, 332
from celestial impulsion, 15
to feel, requires courage, 331
M’s fear of, 15
Ferdinand V ‘the Catholic’ (King of Spain), 366
festivals, 334–5
Fioravanti, Leonardo (Italian physician), 217
Firmus (self-proclaimed Emperor of Alexandria), 334
Flaminius, Titus Quintus (Roman general), 187, 298, 406
flattery, 380
fleas and moles, 211–12
Foix, Diane de, Countess of Gurson, 37
food, see eating
foreign travel, 46
Franget, Seigneur de, 12
freedom
to criticize others, 381
M’s hunger after, 73
settled habits in old age, 387
friendship
companionable, not gregarious, 250
criticism of friends, 235
handpicked companions, 249
of honourable and talented men, 253–4
male, 256
M’s judgement of friends, 378–80
wholehearted, 250
Fulvius, Gnaeus (Roman general), 12
Galba, Servius (praetor), 294
Galba, Servius Sulpicius (Roman emperor), 335
gallstones, 202–4, 206–8, 218, 391, 395–400
Gallus, C. Cornelius (Roman poet), 300
Gallus, Cornelius (praetor), 22
games and sports
in education, 59–60
expenditure on, 334–5
fostering goodwill, 73
lavishness of, 337–40
old to watch, 262
Gauls, 182–3
Gaviac, Seigneur de (M’s uncle), 209
Gaza (Palestinian city), 7–8
generosity, 335–6
gentlemen, see nobility
Germans
eating habits, 387
sleeping habits, 383
gladiators, 182
gloominess, 265–6
goats
blood as wonder-cure, 224–5
suckling children, 164
gossip, 287–8
Gramont family, 230
graveyards, 27
Greeks and Romans
Plutarch’s comparisons, 191–3
Gregorian calendar, 381
Gregory XIII, Pope, 335
Grouchy, Nicholas (M’s tutor), 69
grunting with exertion, 205–6
Guerente, Guillaume (M’s tutor), 69, 72
Guerre, Martin, 357
habit, 386
Hadrian (Roman emperor), 212
Hannibal, 14–15
health
illness, fear of, 28
M’s own, see Montaigne, Michel de, HEALTH
only thing worth pursuing, 209
outweighing books, 105
see also medicine
Heliodorus (Bishop of Tricca), 165
Heliogabalus (Elagabulus, Roman emperor), 334
Hemon (lad of Chio), 326
Henry II (King of France), 22
Heraclitus (Ionian philosopher), 368
Herodotus (Greek historian), 164, 211, 295
Hesiod the Wise, 144
Hierophilus (Greek physician), 215
Hippocrates (Greek physician), 215, 216, 268
Hippolytus (myth, son of Theseus), 213
history
puny knowledge of, 341
study bearing fruit beyond price, 49–50
honour
good esteem of masses an insult, 235
no wish to be better valued dead than alive, 229
outward show and inward disposition, 238
public and private, 237
women’s: fear for, 281; measured by morals, 287
horses, M’s love of, 332
Huguenots, 268
human condition, Form borne by every man, 233
hunting
cruelty, 181–2
ecstasy, 178–9
husbands and wives, see marriage
idleness, 9–10
ignorance, fear to admit, 356–7
impatience, 392–3
inconsistency
adapting to changing life, 247–8
of our actions, 124–31
inconstancy
in natural development, 232
vacillation constant defect of nature, 125
inheritance
of assets: exploiting wills to punish or reward, 162; local customary law, 162; male entail, 162–3; miserliness of old, 151–2; mothers running affairs until sons of age, 162; over-provision for widows, 161; Plato’s Laws on, 163; Salic Law, 163; unreliability of leaving decisions to widow, 164
of family characteristics, 207–8
insanity, 360
Ischolas (Spartan captain), 89
Isocrates (Attic orator), 276, 334
Italians
beautiful women, 312
eating habits, 387
men’s legs compared with French, 362
sleeping habits, 383
timid lovers, 309
virtues compared with French, 312
James (King of Naples), 257
Janus (Roman deity), 262
Jerome, St, 286
Jesus Christ, 21–2
Joanna (Queen of Naples), 315
judgement of others, 376–81
judges
dissimilar judgements, 367
hampered by case-law and precedent, 366
reins on authority by law-makers, 365
on side of children, 159
unjust judgements, 371–2
see also justice; laws; lawyers
Julian the Apostate, 11–12
Julius Caesar
clemency, 179
epilepsy, 388
experiencing pleasure, 415
life of, less exemplary than individual’s, 375
victories preferred to children, 167
justice
companion of generosity, 336
conscience of, 147
contradiction and error in, 371–2
farrago of old laws, 210
moral difficulties, 357
Nature acting against, 372
retail wrong to achieve wholesale right, 372
sentences more criminal than sentenced, 372
taking cognizance of good as well as bad actions, 372–3
for witches, 360
see also judges; laws; lawyers
keeping up appearances, 313
Kinge (Queen consort of Poland), 279
kings, see monarchs
kissing as greeting, an unpleasant custom, 310
knowledge
airing, in conversation, 253–4
ambiguity of understanding, 362–3
arrogance of philosophers, 363, 377–8
assertions of fact surpassing, 356
desire for, 364
enjoyment without, 352
experience leading to, 364
glosses increasing ignorance, 367
intelligence required to realize lack of, 377
knowing one’s self, 51
limitations of, 341–2
natural desire for, 364
pursuit of, unending, 368–9
science merely feeding curiosity, 375
Labienus, T. (Roman historian), 165–6
Laches (Athenian commander), 331
Lahontan (region of France), 223
lameness
Amazons crippling boys, 361
sex with lame women, 361–2
language
enrichment of words by beautiful minds, 300–301
French, 301
grammar, 64
Greek and Latin, 68–70, 239, 301
legal, 366–8
simple speech, 67–8
La Rochelabeille, battle of (1569), 94
Latin Language, 68–70, 239, 301
laughter, 265–6
laws
authority of, 373
basic, 318
chaotic deformity of French, 373–4
excess of in France, 365–6
freedom of interpretation, 365, 370
general law, M governed by, 374–5
in Golden Age, 366
moral, 370–71
of Nature, 307–8, see also Nature
see also judges; justice; lawyers
lawyers
obscure language, 366–8
quarrels caused by, 223
see also judges; justice; laws
leisure
Cicero on, 248
excess of, 123
Leonidas (King of Sparta), 89, 406
lepers, 203
Lepidus, Marcus Aemilius (triumvir), 22, 289
liberality, 336–8
life
contempt for, 30
living fittingly a glorious achievement, 415–16
most basic employment, 415
M’s love of, 421–2
part madness, part wisdom, 318
philosophy from, 62
as preparation for death, 31–2
see also death: old age
likeness and unlikeness, 364–5
Limoges, 5
Llepidus, Marcus Aemilus (triumvir), 289
Lorraine, Charles de Guise, Cardinal of, 186
love
affairs, 255, 276–7, see also mistresses
benefactors and recipients, 150
French impetuosity, 309
gradualness in dispensing favours, 313
married, 194–201
opportune moment for, 291
platonic, 327–8
recovering in old age, 324–6
respect with, 291–2
seasonable in age nearest boyhood, 326–7
sex without, 310
Spanish and Italian timidity, 309
and wisdom cannot live together, 321
women’s capacity for, 277
see also sexuality
loyalty, 48
Lucan (Roman poet), 166
luck, 242–3
Lucretius (Roman poet), 139, 299, 308
Lucullus, Lucius (Roman general), 127
Luther, Martin, 370
lying
to doctors, 213
M’s: exaggeration, 354; pain at, 267
worse than lechery, 267
Maecenas (minister of Augustus), 294
Mamertina (Sicilian town), 7
management of affairs
at early age, 121–3
by M of his own, 103–4
petty souls overwhelmed by, 415–16
private and public, 130
Manuel (Roman commander), 14
Margaret, Queen ofNavarre (Marguerite d’Angoulême), 117, 327
Marius, Gaius (Roman general), 387
marriage
arranged, 272
curiosity in, a fault, 295–6
disagreements, 159
discussion of, indecorous, 297
dowries, 161
excessive tolerance, 299
fidelity in, 275–6
good: because not talked about, 295; blind wife and deaf husband, 297
impotency in, 315–17
Italian customs, 312
love-affairs cured by, 276
loving friendship, 274
Plato on choice of partners, 315
polygamous, 90
reasons for, 272
rich wives, 161
right age for, 154
sex in, 272
suicide pacts, 195–201
widows: inheritance, 161, 162; lamentations, 194–5
Martial (Roman poet), 222–3, 308
medicine
aperient for brain better than for stomach, 212
classical writers’ harsher treatment than M’s, 230
convalescence, 398–9
dying of good health, 213
evacuation of the bowels, 211
experience on its own dung-heap, 381
experimental, 227–8
if it tastes nice, take it, 393
impatience prolonging sickness, 392–3
on journeys, 103
joy of recovery from illness, 398
lack of specialists, 219
managing without, 210–11
most uncertain science, 215–16
mystery and sorcery, 214
natural remedies, 209–10, 216, 227, 395
prolonging useless lives, 393–4
proper treatment, 217–18
regular habits in old age, 387–9
remedies worse than sickness, 389–90
side-effects, 217
surgery, 218
see also doctors; gall-stones; health
Melissa (wife of Periander), 311
memory, M’s distrust of, 376
Meno (Greek general), 326
mercy, M’s weakness towards, 6
Messalina (consort of Emperor Claudius), 277, 298–9
Metellus Numidicus (consul), 170–71
metempsychosis, 183–4
Metrodorus of Lampsacus (Epicurean philosopher), 140
Mexico, see New World
mind
escaping from old age, 264–5
of Man, 423–4
solitude as escape from, 99
miracles, 74–8
errors compounded by transmission, 353–4
false, 355–6
investigations into, 355
miserliness, 152
misfortunes of Man, 307–8
mistresses
few men have married, without repenting, 276
loving friendship of marriage preferred, 274
moderation
children’s freedom leading to, 312–13
liberality without, 336
teaching, 322–3
monarchs
dispensing justice, 336
excessive liberality, 336–7
excessive use of coaches, 333–4
expenditure on magnificence, 334
frank criticism needed, 381
lavishness of public games, 337–40
munificence of, 335
possessions belong to people, 335
Monluc, Blaise de (Marshal of France), 160
Montaigne, Léonor de (M’s daughter), 153, 279–80
Montaigne, Michel de
BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS: age at writing essays, 403; birth, 21; brought up with common people, 405–6; marriage, 154
EDUCATION: acting, 72; Collège de Guyenne, 70–71; corporal punishment, 153; Latin and Greek upbringing, 68–70, 239; unwillingness to learn, 162
ESSAYS: brain-children, see brainchildren; communicating himself as himself, 233; complete portrait, 317–18; confessing moral faults, 266–9; considered funny in Gascony, 237; criticism of, as criticism of M, 234; disorderly thoughts at the time, 360–61; freedom to write about, 369–70; ideas jotted down, 303–4, 397; impoverished portrait from declining years, 230; inconsistency of ideas, 232–3; lack of knowledge, 37; for ladies’ salon, 269; method of writing, 202; not teaching but relating, 234; no wish to be better valued dead than alive, 229, 237; rather be good cook, 229; revealing himself, 41; seeking truth, not laying it down, 109; Seneca and Plutarch as basis, 186; shocking frankness of, 318–19; style, 302–3; as truthful as he dares, 233; written at home, 302
ESTATES: management of, 103–4
FAMILY: brothers, 209; children, 153; father, see Montaigne, Pierre Eyquem de; honourable stock, 175; inherited characteristics, 207–8; marriage, 275
HEALTH: appetite, 390; bowel movements, 388–9; colic paroxysms, 202–6; complexion, 403; doctors avoided, 209–11, 230–31; eyesight, 411; fear of ill-health, 332; fear of pain, 206, 231, 264; gallstones, 202–4, 206–8, 395–400; hearing, 412; love as antidote, 324; melancholy, 25–7, 149; mental alertness, 403–4; mental and physical decline since age of thirty, 122; in old age, 317, 387–8, 393–400; stolid complexion, 203–4; sudden distempers, 319–20; teeth, 407; treatment of illnesses, 383; youthful lessons learnt, 254
HOME, 258
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTI CS: clothing, 334, 410; concentration, 247–8; conversation, 394, 353; decision-making secundum quid, 242–3, 249; disregard of personal belongings, 407; drinking habits, 138, 410–11; easy conscience, 234–5; eating habits, 61, 387–8, 401, 405, 406–9, 412; emotions lodged since childhood, 240–41; fortuitous virtue, 175; friendships, 249–50, 253; generosity, 71–2; hatred of cruelty, 177–8; health, 25, 28; ignorance of everyday matters, 249; inconsistency, 128–9; influenced by others, 303; judgement, 376; laziness, 70, 71; least inequality between servants and master, 250; love affairs, conduct of, 319–22; mild manners, 249; moderation, 377–80, 404; private in habits, 233; regretting neither past nor future, 245; self-judgement, 236; self-study, 374; settled emotions, 239; shyness, 292; sleeping habits, 401; solitariness, 253, 258; strong voice, 391–2; sympathy with common people, 406; tolerance for others’ opinions, 231
READING: easily distracted, 385; his library, 258; interfering with style of writing, 302; Ovid, 71; for pleasure, 106, 257; Plutarch and Seneca, 38
Montaigne, Pierre Eyquem de (M’s father)
educating M, 68–71
gentlemanly behaviour of, 137
painful death, 207–8
upbringing of M, 405–6
mother love, 164
Muret, Marc-Antoine (M’s tutor), 69, 72
music
at dinner, 412
in M’s childhood, 70
Nature
acting against justice, 372
authority over wisdom, 139
bounty enjoyed in New World, 88
curing sickness, 392–3
death and, 31
gentle guide, 422–3
going against, harmful, 408
inevitability of, 243
innocence of natural man, 83–6
laws of, perverted by philosophers, 375
limits of, beyond human understanding, 76
natural remedies, 209–11, 216, 227, 395
necessary actions pleasurable, 415–16
necessary duties of, 307–8
needs no great destiny, 415
nothing unique or rare in, 341
picturing whole of, 51
shaming man’s ingenuity, 83
similarities in, 370
universality of Law of, 150
Nero (Roman emperor), 124, 186–7, 189
New World
artistry and culture of, 342–3
conquest, 343–80
Conquistadores’ behaviour towards Indians, 345–7
contagion of Old World, 342–4
lawyers banned, 366
Mexican’s view of creation, 348–9
natural way of life of natives, 83–92
Peruvian highway, 349
primitive peoples, 343
religion with menaces, 345–7
riches stolen, 345–8
Nicocles (King of Cyprus), 212, 214
nobility
age to marry, 155
beauty the privilege of noblewomen, 256
dress at home unimportant, 334
Persian punishments, 181
rank and virtue, 272–4
schooling for, 313
suppleness of manner, 387
virtue rare, 196
noise aiding study, 385
Octavius Sagilla, 290–91
Oedipus, 118
old age
changing vices, 246
death from, 120–21
drinking as the last pleasure, 137–8
enjoyment of, 426
excessive seriousness, 261
extending working life into, 121
freeing from sensual pleasures, 243–4
gentle approach of, 29
household plots, 157–60
ills coming in due season, 245
length of life, 120–23
licence to chatter, 234
love, attempting to recover, 324–6
making room for youth, 155–6
meanness of wealthy, 151–2
mental and physical decline, 122
mind escaping from, 264–5
M’s illnesses, 393–400
pleasures in, 106
prolonging, out of love, 201
recalling youth, 262
respect of young, 152
settled habits, 387–9
solitude in, 101–2
toys and playthings as solace, 263
open fires, 383–4
opinions, see arguments
ordinancy
glum and sombre virtue, 237
judgement of, 242
in private, 236
Origen of Alexandria, 268
Ovid’s Metamorphoses, 71
pain
of body and soul in penance, 323
cries of torment to relieve body, 204–6
fear of, exceeding, 204
M’s sensitivity to, 264
and pleasure, 105–6, 172, 209, 305, 419
reformation based on, 245
resistance to, a virtue, 171–2
training for, 47
Panaetius (Stoic philosopher), 321
Paracelsus (Bombast von Hohenheim), 217
passing time, 419–21
Paulina Pompeia (wife of Seneca), 198–200
Paulinus (Bishop of Nola), 100
Pausanias (Macedonian assassin of Philip), 134
Pelopidas (Theban general), 6
penance, 323
Periander (Tyrant of Corinth), 311
Pericles (Athenian statesman and general), 230
Perrozet (maker of playing-cards), 365
Perses (King of Macedonia), 379
Peru, see New World
Phaedo (Greek philosopher), 294
Phaulius of Argus, 294
Phidias (Greek sculptor), 167
Philip II (King of Macedon), 338
philosophy
allowing cries of torment when in pain, 204–6
in education, 54–9
human opinions embraced, 422
learning how to die, 17
from life rather than books, 62
Man’s mind, 423–4
mental and bodily pleasures, 414–15
Nature and, 423
perverting laws of Nature, 375
playing with words, 370
and religion, 115
separating duty and pleasure, 416–17
teaching moderation, 322–3
Philotas, Quintus Curtius (Alexander’s general), 147, 425
Phocion (Athenian general and statesman), 243
Phyton (defender of Rhegium), 7
Pittacus (Greek sage), 297
pity, 5–6
Plato
advice to old to watch sports of young, 262
beliefs insulting to gods, 110
his affairs, 266
humanity of, 425
on: choosing marriage partners, 315; conversing with servants, 250; death, 408; dreams, 404; drinking, 138; education, 59; girl’s former existence as boys, 280; gloominess, 266; gossips, 287; inheritance, 163; lawyers and doctors, 366; lying to doctors, 213; man, plaything of gods, 305; nature of gods, 93; prolonging useless lives, 303–4; purgations, 211; rewarding heroes, 328; sex equality, 329; soldiering, 402; Spartans’ ‘virtue-guard’, 285; sports, 60, 262; surrendering in love too quickly, 313; wisdom, 376–7; youthful beauty, 327
philosophy of, 415
pleasure
abandoned to, as though to die the next day, 126
acceptance of, 413
after passing gallstone, 398
aim of all, 17–18
awareness of, 420
bodily, soul’s role in, 323–4
clashing with another, 412
duty mixed with, 415–17
of food, 409–10
giving and receiving, 325
mental or bodily, 414
moderation in, 413
M’s enjoyment of, 390–91
and pain, 105–6, 172, 209, 305, 419
philosophical and sexual contrasted, 18–19
of reading, 257–9
seeking
sensual: inability to enjoy, not chastity, 245; old age freeing from, 243–4; single-minded passion for, 254–5. See also sexuality, intercourse
subject to death, 24
and virtue, 56
Pliny the Elder
criticized for errors, 77
on medicine, 230
Pliny the Younger
on devotion to study, 104, 105
Plutarch
credulity defended, 187–93
influence on M’s literary style, 302
on: animals, 184, 185; astromony, 352; passion of great men, 140; sea-sickness, 331; shyness, 292; words, 300
poetry
‘barbarous’, 91
frivolous pastime, 252
Lucretius and Virgil, 299–300; see also Virgil
M’s love of, 38
poet most in love with handiwork, 167
shocking, 318–19
and versifying, 65–7
words meaning more than they say, 300
Polemon (Platonic philosopher), 279
Praestantius, 360
Praxiteles (Greek sculptor), 310
precedent
hampering judges, 366
uncertain looking-glass, 393
prisons, M’s horror of, 373
Probus (Roman emperor), 338
profit from office, 96
progress, 340
prostitutes
earning necessities, 295
M’s rare commerce with, 256
Socrates’ precepts for education of, 281
wills not for sale, 310
wives as, 294
provocativeness, 293
public offices, 335
Pygmalion (King of Cyprus), 168
Pyrrhus (King of Epirus), 79, 188, 406, 818–19
Pythagoras
contemplative philosophy, 415
on: astronomy, 53; kindness to animals and metempsychosis, 182; the soul, 241
quicksilver, 366–7
quintessence, 227
rank, 272–4; see also nobility
rapture, 265
reading, see books
reason
aroused by reading, 248
countering widely held opinions, 354
enfeeblement in old age, 244
experience leading to knowledge, 364
inferences without knowledge of facts, 352–3
judging common opinions, 79
and Laws of Nature, 150–51
male, 256
M’s lack of pleasure in, in old age, 263
one’s own opinions and customs as criterion of, 82
rather than force in education, 153
running ahead of facts, 362
running freely when things go well, 244
recognizing men by silences and smiles, 253–4
religion
absolution, 118
Ancient Gauls, 182–3
belief in miracles, 74–8; see also miracles
Catholics treating some beliefs as expendable, 78
choice of vices, 267–8
condemnation of sexual intercourse, 306
contempt for life, 30
forced on New World, 345–7
general law of God, 374–5
God’s ordinances, judgements on, 93–5
God’s purpose, attributing success or failure to, 93–5
Man to guide himself according to Man’s fashioning, 423
mercy of God, 407
M’s human thoughts on, 115–16
mystery, as, 114–15
obedience to Church, 78
prayer: approach to, 113; excess of, 116–17; as a jingle, 118; Lord’s Prayer, 109–10; occasions for, 110–11; outward show, 111; private and public, 117–18
psalm-singing, 112
repentance, 111–12
Roman Catholic Church: M’s anxiety not to write against, 109
scriptural authority for witches, 357
scriptural certainty and human testimony, 358–61
sex, attitude to, 306
similarities of all, 306
solitary pursuit of, 105
translations of the Scriptures, 113–14
use of God’s name, 116
women and, 117
repentance
inadequate, 239–40
M’s easy conscience, 234
no cure unless vice eschewed, 241
regret contrasted, 241–2
selective, 240
Rhegium (Italian city), 7
Romans and Greeks, Plutarch’s comparisons, 191–3
Rome, capture by Duke of Bourbon (1527), 13–14
royal-tennis, 392
Saint-Michel, Sieur de (M’s brother), 209
Scanderbeg, Prince of Epirus (George Castriota), 6
scientific investigations, 375
Scipio Africanus, Publius Cornelius, Major, 145–6, 401, 417
scratching, 402
secrets, 267
self-study
knowing one’s self, 51
M’s metaphysics and physics, 374
wisdom from, 375–8
Seneca
austere life, 385–6
death, 198–200
on: Roman central-heating, 383; solitude, 107–8
studying methods, 385
virtues defended, 186–7
servants
conversing with, 250
M’s upbringing with, 405–6
Sextius Niger, Quintus, the Elder
(Roman philosopher), 385
sexuality
animal demands, 283–4
excesses needed for restraint, 282
impetuosity of, 314
impotence in old age, 316–17
inconstancy in women judged by inconstant men, 314–15
intercourse: affaires, 255, 276–7; all creatures at same level, 305–6; by beasts, 255–6; books on, 281–2; death during, 22; divergent medical advice as to, 220; drinking and, 137; frequency of, 277–8; health-giving properties, 321–2; intensity of climax, 178; with lame women, 361–2; legislation for, 281; lingering over, 309; love necessary, 255; in marriage, 272; men lost to women after, 309; men’s ambivalence, 278–9; more than mere slaking of an appetite, 256; M’s first experience, 390–91; M’s youthful errors, 254, 256; nothing but thirst for pleasure, 304; only true bodily pleasure, 138; prostitutes, see prostitutes; attitudes of religions to, 306; ridiculous activity, 305; some women’s only way to converse, 311; performed standing up, 387; voluntary agreements grant no prescriptive rights, 319; weakening young men, 154; wit desirable but expendable, 256; without love, 311; women’s capacity for, 277–9; women’s passivity, 314. See also pleasure, sensual
love-affairs cured by marriage, 276
modesty, 308–9
M’s courtship technique, 319–21
nudity, 283–4
sexual organs: banning signs of, 283; honoured, 282–3; size of, 283–4
taboo words, 269–70
Virgil’s lines, 271
see also love
shame, 266
shyness, 292
sickness, see health; medicine
silence, 253–4
sin, see vices
sleeping
pleasure of, 420
smells, 411
smiling, 253–4
sneezing, 330–31
social behaviour
affectation, 67
easy mixing in society, 60–62
educating boys in, 59
French children, 58
moral rules made by men, rejected by women, 277
unsociable and sociable Man, 97
social intercourse, see books; friendship; sexuality; women
Socrates
ability to relax amidst great actions, 417–18
composure, 331–2
condemnation in old age, 246
contempt for death, 30
ecstasies and daemonizings, 425
master of masters, 378
mistaken attack on, 268
on: abilities, 249; dreams, 404; drinking, 139; effect of love, 322; marriage, 274; old men withdrawing from affairs, 102; pleasures of mind and body, 422; sexual love, 304; wisdom, 376–7
philosophy of deeds and morals, 415
precepts for education of courtesans, 281
serene facial expression, 266
vice corrected by discipline, 177
wife’s nagging, 385
soldiering
boys’ attitude to, 56
calmness rather than frenzy, 251
fear in battle, 13–16
no occupation so enjoyable, 401–2
oratory or, 229
punishment of cowardice, 11–12
solitude
active life compared, 96
ambition abandoned, 107–8
contentment in, 99–100, 253, 258
for devotion’s sake, 105
escape from the mind, 99
M’s chagrin caused by, 149
preparing for death, 101–2
room behind the shop, 100
running from throng of affairs, 253
withdrawing from attributes of mob, 97–9
Solon (Athenian legislator), 278, 295, 408
Sophocles, 130
Sorbonne, Paris, 416
soul
bodily pleasures, role in, 323–4
courageous in vice, 235
employed on youngish wanton thoughts, 261
greatness displayed in mean things, 238
greatness of, 418–19
judged when at home, 238
making love to bodies without, 311
of many storeys, 250
metempsychosis in Gauls’ religion, 182–3
M’s in its apprenticeship, 233
in old age, 246
pain in penance, 323
schools of philosophy on, 241, 414–15
superiority over beasts, 305
vocation of thinking, 248
South American Indians, see barbarism; New World
Spaniards in New World, see New World
Spartans
endurance, 188–9
ignorance of medicine, 212
naked exercises, 284–5
valour calmed by flutes, 251
speaking voice, 391–2
Speucippus (Platonic philosopher), 22
stealing
repentance and compensation, 240
Spartan’s disgrace from being caught, 188
training for, 152
Stilpo (Megarian philosopher), 99–100, 138
Stoic School of philosophy, 170, 172, 177, 241, 243, 378, 423
Strato (Greek philosopher), 215, 281
submissiveness, 5–6
suicide, husband and wife pacts, 195–201
supernatural, belief in, 359
swear-words, 303
Tamberlane (Timur) (Tatar conqueror), 203, 238
Tasso, Torquato, 362
Thales of Miletus (Ionic philosopher), 154, 267
Thalestris(Queen of the Amazons), 314
Thebes, 6–7
Theophilus (east Roman emperor), 14
Theophrastus (Greek philosopher), 334
Theramenes (Athenian Tyrant), 362, 417
Thermopylae, 89
Thrasonides, 997
Tiberius (Roman emperor)
concerned with honour after death, 229
drunkenness, 134
love-affairs according to rank, 256
on medicine, 382
Tiresias (blind seer), 277
torture
beyond mere death penalty, 179–81
bravery under, 189–90
on corpses, 180–81
M’s horror of, 179
pointlessness of, 146–7
Portugese methods introduced to New World, 86–7
see also cruelty
travel
moving about increasing pressures, 98–9
travellers’ tales, 81–2
Tullius, Servius (King of Rome), 121
Ulpian (Roman jurist), 367
vacillation, 124
vainglory, 78
Varro, Marcus (Roman writer), 413
Vervins, Seigneur de, 11
vices
awkward situations weighed against, 267
confessing, 266–9
distinguishing between, 132–3
forged by opinions of men, 235
improving those that show, 239
M’s horror at, 175–6
not given up but changed, 246
one leading to another, 176–7
pleasure: compensating for sin, 240; and displeasure in, 144, 244
private, 236
product of stupidity and ignorance, 234
rooted in strong will, 236
to second virtue, 398
sudden and deliberate contrasted, 241
unfairly weighted against women, 286
Virgil
elegance of verse, 299–300
fathering Aeneid, 167
on: cuckolds, 289; lack of fidelity in marriage, 275
virginity, 293
virtue
among nobility, 196
to be pursued for own sake, 130, 245
Cato and Socrates exemplifying perfection of, 172–3
generosity, 336
from illness, 396
more than mere goodness and innocence, 169–74
M’s fortuitous, 175
private, 237–8
proved by vicious desires and pain, 171
questing after, 18–19
rank distinguished, 272–4
Socrates on, 370
teaching value of, 55–6
war
bravery in heat of battle, 141
coaches used in, 333–4
death in, 35
defeat more glorious than victory, 89–90
fear in, 13–16
heroes allowed love’s favours, 328
national characteristics in coping with danger, 174
nobility of, in New World, 86–7
Religious Wars, see Wars of Religion
retreats, 331–2
true victory, 88
whether God on side of victors, 93–5
see also soldiering
Wars of Religion
cruelty, 181
endurance amongst mounted riff-raff, 189
enemies indistinguishable, 143
God’s approval invoked, 94
M’s changing sympathies, 406
restricting freedom, 373
washing, 221
wealth
enjoyment of, 102–3
meanness of kings with, 334
useful and wasted expenditure, 334–5
weeping, 179
wet-nurses, 164
wine, see drinking
wisdom
adapting to common silliness, 249
controlled handling of our soul, 141
decline of, 377
distaste for things as they are, 246
and drunkenness, 139
excesses of, 261
gay and companionable, 265
life part madness, part wisdom, 318
and love cannot live together, 321
making M laugh, 253
male, 256
from one’s own experience, 375–6
prime duty of, 133
self-contained, 379
from self-study, 375–8
in youth and old age, 245
wit
desirable in lovemaking, 256
French and Italian compared, 312
witches
factual evidence lacking, 359–60
justice for, 360
killing of, 358
scriptural authority for, 357
spot, 359
women
‘beautiful’ changing to ‘good’ after thirty, 327
beauty and chastity, 161
to be kept busy, 9
capacity for sex, 277–9
education, 329
escaping from men, 255
harshness of obligations, 297
immorality, 285–6
inconsistency of, 126–7
jealousy of, 290
locking up; but who will guard the guardians?, 295
men’s assumption of power, 319
men’s judgement of inconsistency, 314–15
mother love, shallowness of, 164
M’s dealings with, 269
none universally ugly or beautiful, 255
normal weaknesses of, 162
opinionated, 190
passive intercourse at any time, 314
platonic love, 327–8
prostituting themselves to help husbands, 294
provocativeness, 293
provoked by interdicts, 298
readily led by the nose, 74
reading for benefit, 252
rejecting men’s moral rules, 277
reputation to be saved when conscience beyond saving, 313
resourcefulness in carrying husbands to safety, 6
Salic Law, 163
sex equality, 329
soldiers, 402
traditional remedies used by, 225, 226, 395
trained from childhood for love, 279–81
unbefitting to treat theological matters, 117
worldly goods, happiness independent of, 100
wrestlers, recognizing, 254
writing
borrowed quotations, 38–40
borrowed sources of commonplace man, 234
clever at, but otherwise stupid, 229–30
simple and natural, 66–7
with torn breeches, 229
without knowledge, 233
see also Montaigne, Michel de, ESSAYS
Xerxes (King of Persia), 413
yawning, 111
youth
activity and energy, 401
drinking in, 138
glory achieved in, 122
and inheritance, 151–2
love seasonable only in, 326–7
management of affairs in, 121–3
M’s shame when among, 324–5
wisdom in, 245
Zeno, citizen of Messana, 7