La Bruyère delivers here his reflections on the manners of his century, in sixteen chapters of which "fifteen are devoted to discovering the false and the ridiculous which meet in the object of the passions and the human attachments". In the form of a conversation, the author relates attitude and character, leaving it to the reader to identify the rest. Maxims bearing the mark of common sense and good speaking and portraits adorn this eminently moralistic text, a true social satire.
