“Rousseau exerts himself to prove that all was right originally: a crowd of authors that all is now right: and I, that all will be right.”

Happy would it be for women, if they were only flattered by the men who loved them; I mean, who love the individual, not the sex.

In short, women, in general, as well as the rich of both sexes, have acquired all the follies and vices of civilization, and missed the useful fruit.

Without the aid of the imagination all the pleasures of the senses must sink into grossness.

Independence I have long considered as the grand blessing of life, the basis of every virtue; and independence I will ever secure by contracting my wants, though I were to live on a barren heath.

Either nature has made a great difference between man and man, or that the world is not yet anywhere near to being fully civilized.

I like to use significant words.

I have sighed when obliged to confess that either Nature has made a great difference between man and man, or that the civilization which has hitherto taken place in the world has been very partial.

My dreams were all my own; I accounted for them to nobody; they were my refuge when annoyed – my dearest pleasure when free.

Thus do we wish as we float down the stream of life, whilst chance does more to gratify our desire for knowledge than our best-laid plans.

Taught from their infancy that beauty is woman’s sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison.

No man chooses evil because it is evil; he just mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks.

Men, in general, seem to employ their reason to justify prejudices, rather than to root them out.

Into this error men have, probably, been led by viewing education in a false light; not considering it as the first step to form a being advancing gradually towards perfection; but only as a preparation for life.

All power inebriates weak man; and its abuse proves that the more equality there is established among men, the more virtue and happiness will reign in society.

Only that education deserves emphatically to be termed cultivation of the mind which teaches young people how to begin to think.

Still the men stand up for the dignity of man, by oppressing the women.

Each of us must decide whether it is more important to be proved right or to provoke righteousness.

Never be afraid to stand with the minority when the minority is right, for the minority which is right will one day be the majority.

Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right use of strength.

Every man has by nature the right to possess property as his own. This is one of the chief points of distinction between man and the animal creation.

People think that young people don’t care about things, but I think they do care; they just aren’t super interested in conforming to what older people think are the right way to do things.

Next to victory, there is nothing so sweet as defeat, if only the right adversary overcomes you.

Sovereignty and the right to rule cannot be conferred on anyone no matter who … as a result of an academic discussion. Sovereignty is acquired by force and power and violence.

If you’ve made up your mind you can do something, you’re absolutely RIGHT.