The Essais are first and foremost to be seen as both an exploration and description of human nature; that is, they are nothing but Montaigne’s attempt to learn about himself. As he asserts throughout the Essais, “I am myself the subject of my book," and following, “I have never seen a greater monster or miracle in the world than myself." This is in part because Montaigne is convinced that truth cannot be found through reason. Rather it is only by means of a thorough knowledge of the self that truth can be obtained. As well, it must be understood that this self is always ever-changing: “I take the first subject Fortune offers: all are equally good for me. I never plan to expound them in full for I do not see the whole of anything [….] Everything has a hundred parts and a hundred faces: I take one of them and sometimes just touch it […] I can surrender to doubt and uncertainty and to my master-form, which is ignorance.