Man’s first law is to watch over his own preservation; his first care he owes to himself; and as soon as he reaches the age of reason, he becomes the only judge of the best means to preserve himself; he becomes his own master.
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAUIf there were a nation of Gods, it would govern itself democratically. A government so perfect is not suited to men.
More Jean-Jacques Rousseau Quotes
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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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My love for imaginary objects and my facility in lending myself to them ended by disillusioning me with everything around me, and determined that love of solitude which I have retained ever since that time.
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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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He who pretends to look on death without fear lies. All men are afraid of dying, this is the great law of sentient beings, without which the entire human species would soon be destroyed.
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There is peace in dungeons, but is that enough to make dungeons desirable?
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The imagination which causes so many ravages among us, never speaks to the heart of savages.
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What good would it be to possess the whole universe if one were its only survivor?
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Nature never deceives us; it is always we who deceive ourselves.
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Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.
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Everything is good as it comes from the hands of the Maker of the world, but degenerates once it gets into the hands of man
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The first man, who, after enclosing a piece of ground, took it into his head to say, This is mine, and found people simple enough to believe him, was the true founder of civil society.
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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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But in some great souls, who consider themselves as citizens of the world, and forcing the imaginary barriers that separate people from people.
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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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MAN is born free; and everywhere he is in chains. One thinks himself the master of others, and still remains a greater slave than they.
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To write a good love letter, you ought to begin without knowing what you mean to say, and to finish without knowing what you have written.
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The man who meditates is a depraved animal.
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Why should we build our happiness on the opinons of others, when we can find it in our own hearts?
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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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I hate books; they only teach us to talk about things we know nothing about.
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The first man who, having enclosed a piece of ground, bethought himself of saying ‘this is mine’, and found people simple enough to believe him, was the real founder of civil society.
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I perceive God everywhere in His works. I sense Him in me; I see Him all around me.
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In truth, laws are always useful to those with possessions and harmful to those who have nothing; from which it follows that the social state is advantageous to men only when all possess something and none has too much.
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What, then, is the government? An intermediary body established between the subjects and the sovereign for their mutual communication, a body charged with the execution of the laws and the maintenance of freedom, both civil and political.
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Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains. Those who think themselves the masters of others are indeed greater slaves than they.
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Alas, it is when we are beginning to leave this mortal body that it most offends us!
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