Michael De Montaigne

Life and writing

Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) developed his Essays across successive editions rather than presenting a closed system. His friendship with Étienne de La Boétie is part of the background to his writing, and he also served as mayor of Bordeaux. Attending to revision and circumstance helps a reader avoid turning one observation into a final rule for every situation. The archive retains its historical English spelling of his name.

In the linked Cotton translation edited by Hazlitt, Book I’s “Of Custom” asks how familiar practices shape judgement. “Of Friendship” reflects on a particular bond rather than offering a general recipe for every relationship. Read the complete essay, including changes of example and the quoted voices within it. This edition supplies related context; the anthology’s wording and references remain their own historical record.

Reading this voice

Read one complete essay before collecting its memorable sentences. The two selected Bartlett passages carry references to custom and friendship; their 1562 timeline coordinate is a documented lifetime midpoint, not the composition date of either passage. Cotton’s linked text provides related reading without a claim that it supplied Bartlett’s exact wording. Other Montaigne attribution labels remain separate and unresolved; no quotation wording or dates are backfilled.

Subjects to explore

Words to begin with

• The laws of conscience, which we pretend to be derived from nature, proceed from custom.
• We were halves throughout, and to that degree that methinks by outliving him I defraud him of his part.