Montaigne writes that each of us is a bearer of the human condition in its “entire form.” This is why we can recognize ourselves in the experiences and characters of others, however much we diverge from them in cultural attitudes or background. This forms part of his justification for writing so much about himself: he is an ordinary example of a human being, and one he happens to know intimately. “You can tie up all moral philosophy with a common and private life just as well as with a life of richer stuff.”
