There were two main purposes in writing this book.
First, it was an introduction to France.
The next thing to do was to write about the man France had found.
But this was not something that could be separated.
It was actually one story because they were French and they were looking for humans, and the humans they found were French.
Through this, the author ultimately wanted to understand humanity.
Through the special path they have taken, we wanted to discover a humanity we never knew about, and think about what path humanity should take in the future.
So, this book is not really a book to introduce and study France, but rather a book about people as seen through France.
It could be said that this is a human story seen through France.
Their history was human history.
They wanted to find humanity above all else and rejected anything that was not human.
And it was a history that ceaselessly asked and answered the question of who humans are.
Sometimes there were surprising things, but there were also things that were embarrassing and shameful to see.
However, they boldly challenged humans and did not hesitate to experiment on anything related to humans.
So they exposed everything about humans.
Sometimes they were afraid to be seen, so they hid and ran away.
But this too was ultimately the human path.
Thanks to them, we have come to know humanity and have been able to follow the path that humanity truly should take.

Their history was human history.
They wanted to find humanity above all else and rejected anything that was not human.
And it was a history that ceaselessly asked and answered the question of who humans are.
--- p.13

Their pursuit of freedom and equality was not their original nature, but rather a reaction to excessive oppression.
So, the French Revolution was not something they wanted from the beginning, but rather something that ended up happening.
--- p.224

This wisdom of Montaigne was deeply rooted in the French people, and they too were seeking happiness in this way.
He centered on humans and accepted and embraced whatever was above them for the sake of humans.
This could be seen as the beginning of the French people's ambiguous duality.
He is also the originator of the French who have the wisdom of a fox.
--- p.191

Civilization has always been a process of development from small to large.
But after becoming a big person, there was always a problem.
If you know yourself and accept yourself as a small person, you will continue to develop as an open personality, but if you go the other way, you will decline.

--- p.637