This volume, compiled by Gilles Deleuze in 1957, provides a good overview of Bergsonian thought through a brilliant arrangement of text passages from all of Bergson's major works. It marked the beginning of the rediscovery of Bergson in France after World War II. It becomes clear that, alongside intuition, memory, and élan vital, it is primarily duration that conceptually stands at the center of Bergson's philosophy. All texts have been uniformly translated anew by Margarethe Drewsen; thus, the volume can be read as a compact introduction in Bergson's own words.