Quotation by Michel de Montaigne

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"A Consideration Upon Cicero" The Essays (Les Essais), bk. I, ch. 40, Simon Millanges, Bordeaux, first edition (1580)"A Consideration Upon Cicero" The Essays (Les Essais), bk. I, ch. 40, Abel Langelier, Paris (1595)"A Custom of the Island of Cea" The Essays (Les Essais), bk. II, ch. 3, Simon Millanges, Bordeaux, first edition (1580)"A Custom of the Isle of Cea" Essays (1580-1588), trans. by John Florio "An Apology of Raimond Sebond" Essays (1580; trans. by John Florio)

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concepts (2) God (1) Christians (1) Christianity (1) theology (1) mankind (1) illusions (1) truth (1) parochialism (1) philosophical (1)

What we are told of the inhabitants of Brazil, that they never die but of old age, is attributed to the tranquility and serenity of their climate; I rather attribute it to the tranquility and serenity of their souls, which are free from all passion, thought, or any absorbing and unpleasant labors. Those people spend their lives in an admirable simplicity and ignorance, without letters, without law, without king, without any manner of religion.

Michel de Montaigne

Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592), French essayist. "Apology for Raimund Sebond," p. 486, The Essays of Montaigne, vol. I, trans. by E.J. Trechmann, Oxford University Press, New York and London (n.d.).

Montaigne's statement of the noble savage view.

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