Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Volume 07

"Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Volume 07" by Michel de Montaigne is a set of essays from the late 1500s that asks big questions about what makes people tick. The author thinks about honor, how much other people's opinions affect us, why society isn't fair, and why chasing fame might not be worth it. Montaigne writes in a way that feels like he's just sharing his thoughts, giving us a peek into how he sees people, right and wrong, and what it means to be smart. At the beginning, he looks at someone named Cicero and wonders if it's better to be good at talking or good at doing, like Xenophon or Caesar. Montaigne thinks it's better to do great things than just talk about them and argues that wanting to be famous can make you focus on the wrong things. The author makes you wonder what's important to you and what real honor means.