Small Moral Works
Small Moral Works (Italian: Operette morali [opeˌrette moˈraːli]) is a collection of 24 writings (dialogues and fictional essays) by the Italian poet and philosopher Giacomo Leopardi, written between 1824 and 1832. The book was first published in 1827, then in 1834, with changes, and in its last form in Naples (1835), in a censored edition; Antonio Ranieri, a longtime friend of Leopardi's, had it published in the original text in 1845. Small Moral Works expresses most of the ideas collected in the Zibaldone di pensieri. The themes discussed in these Works are: the relationship between man and history, between man and other men, and, most importantly, between man and Nature, of which Leopardi develops a personal philosophical view; a comparison of past values and the present, static, degenerate situation; the power of illusions, glory and boredom. Unlike Leopardi's Canti, Small Moral Works was written almost entirely in 1824.