The Essays of Montaigne, Volume 9

m into the world's eye with the same lustre and reputation; for they commonly so strangely contradict one another that it seems impossible they

s was the custom, cried out, "O that I had never been taught to write!" so much it went to his heart to condemn a man to death. All story is full of such examples, and every man is able to produce so many to himself, or out of his own practice or observa

m est, quod mut

nsel that will

ex Aul. Gell

l the whole course of his life, that he has slipped away clear and undecided from the most daring critics. I can more hardly believe a man's constancy than any other virtue, and believe nothing sooner than the contrary. He that would judge of a man in detail and distinctly, bit by bit, would oftener be able to speak the truth. It is a hard matter, from all antiquity, to pick out a dozen men who have formed their lives to one certain and constant course, which is the principal design of wisdom; for to comprise it all in one word, says one of the ancients, and to contract all the rules of human li

rnit; repetit, q

tae disconveni

st, he seeks again. He fluctuates, and is inconsisten

occasion. We never meditate what we would have till the instant we have a mind to have it; and change like that little creature which receives its colour from wh

ervis alienis

t like the top with

at., ii.

loat, now leisurely, then with violence, accord

e vid

velit, nescire,

, quasi onus de

uncertain what they

s if they could get

ius, ii

, and our humours keep

minum mentes,

icas lustravit

of men, that they cha

himself has illumined

Frag. Poe

cannot jar. But with us 't is quite contrary; every particular action requires a particular judgment. The surest way to steer, in my opinion, would be to take our measures from the nearest allied circumstances, without engaging in a longer inquisition, or without concluding any other consequence. I was told, during the civil disorders of our poor kingdom, that a maid, hard by the place where I then was, had thrown herself out of a window to avoid being forced by a common soldier who was quartered in the house; she was not killed by the fall, and therefore, repeating her attempt would have cut her own throat, had she not been prevented; but having, nevertheless, wounded herself to some show of danger, she voluntarily confes

t much more coldly to work than before, he asked him what had so altered and cowed him: "Yourself, sir," replied the other, "by having eased me of the pains that made me weary of my life." Lucullus's soldier having been rifled by the enemy, performed upon them in

mido quoque poss

ght add courage

Ep., ii.

, "some miserable plundere

is rustic

s, qui zonam pe

ho has lost his purse

."-Horace, Ep

nto the first body of the enemy, where he was presently cut to pieces, we are not to look upon that action, peradventure, so much as vindication as a turn of mind, not so much natural valour as a sudden despite. The man you saw yesterday so adventurous and brave, you must not think it strange to see him

uls; other two distinct powers that always accompany and incline us, the one towards good and the other towards ill, acc

e or less, according as I turn myself about; and whoever will sift himself to the bottom, will find in himself, and even in his own judgment, this volubility and discordance. I have nothing to say of myself entirely, simply, and solidly without mixture and confusion. 'Distinguo' is the most universal member of my logic. Though I always intend to speak well of good things, and rather to interpret such things as fall out in the best sense than otherwise, yet such is the strangeness of our condition, that we are often pushed on to do well even by vice itself, if well-doing were not judged by the intention only. One gallant action, therefore, ought not to conclude a man valiant; if a man were brave indeed, he would be always so, and upon all occasions. If it were a habit

7.]- cannot endure the sight of an enemy, and yet are courage

potest ess

rta ratione p

ar that does not proce

"-Idem, ib

at subverted his natural reason, is one pregnant instance. The superstition, also, with which he was so much tainted, carries along with it some image of pusillanimity; and the excess of his penitence for the murder of Clytus is also a testimony of the unevenness of his courage. All we perform is no other than a cento, as a man may say, of several pieces, and we would acquire honour by a false title. Virtue cann

considerata atq

fe is thoroughly consi

Paradox

ean, for the pace may be faster or slower) let him go; such an one ru

Of what use are colours to him that knows not what he is to paint? No one lays down a certain design for his life, and we only deliberate thereof by pieces. The archer ought first to know at what he is to aim, and then accommodate his arm, bow, string, shaft, and motion to it; our counsels deviate and wander, becau

untry-houses as were best governed; and having taken the names of the owners, when they had assembled the citizens, they appointed these farmers for new governors and magistrates; concluding that they, who had been so provident in their own p

puta, unum h

ways to act as one and the s

ease, with the assurance to expose himself so far from the fireside to the mercy of the waves and angry Neptune in a frail boat; that she further teaches discretion and prudence; a

des furtim trans

nebris sola p

aiden, furtively pas

ne in the darkne

us, ii.

must penetrate the very soul, and there discover by what springs the motion is guided. B