Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains. Those who think themselves the masters of others are indeed greater slaves than they.
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAUThere is peace in dungeons, but is that enough to make dungeons desirable?
More Jean-Jacques Rousseau Quotes
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The imagination which causes so many ravages among us, never speaks to the heart of savages.
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However great a man’s natural talent may be, the act of writing cannot be learned all at once.
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A taste for ostentation is rarely associated in the same souls with a taste for honesty.
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There are times when I am so unlike myself that I might be taken for someone else of an entirely opposite character.
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What good is it looking for our happiness in the opinion of others if we can find it in ourselves?
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I may be no better, but at least I am different.
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If there were a nation of Gods, it would govern itself democratically. A government so perfect is not suited to men.
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I hate books; they only teach us to talk about things we know nothing about.
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I prefer liberty with danger than peace with slavery.
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In any real democracy, magistracy isn’t a benefit—it’s a burdensome responsibility that can’t fairly be imposed on one individual rather than another.
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It is pity in which the state of nature takes the place of laws, morals and virtues, with the added advantage that no one there is tempted to disobey its gentle voice.
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The people of England regards itself as free; but it is grossly mistaken; it is free only during the election of members of parliament. As soon as they are elected, slavery overtakes it, and it is nothing.
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He who blushes is already guilty.
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All my misfortunes come of having thought too well of my fellows.
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I have never thought, for my part, that man’s freedom consists in his being able to do whatever he wills, but that he should not, by any human power, be forced to do what is against his will.
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