French moralists

In French literature, the moralists (French: moralistes) were a tradition of secular writers who described "personal, social and political conduct", typically through maxims.

The tradition begins with the Essais of Michel de Montaigne (1580), but its heyday was the late 17th century.

[1] Although the moralists wrote essays and pen-portraits, their preferred genre was the maxim.

These were short abstract statements devoid of context, often containing paradoxes and always designed to shock or surprise.

The moralists aimed for objective and impartial observation freed from the preconceptions of their day.