Quotes by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

About Jean-Jacques Rousseau:

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a philosopher, writer, and composer of the 18th century. His political philosophy influenced the Enlightenment in France and across Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the overall development of modern political and educational thought.
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Renunciar a la libertad es renunciar a la condición de hombre.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

[T]he mere impulse of appetite is slavery, while obedience to a law which we prescribe to ourselves is liberty.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Every man having been born free and master of himself, no one else may under any pretext whatever subject him without his consent. To assert that the son of a slave is born a slave is to assert that he is not born a man.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Liberty may be gained, but can never be recovered." (Bk2:8)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Our will is always for our own good, but we do not always see what that is; the people is never corrupted, but it is often deceived..." (Bk2:3)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

In any case, frequent punishments are a sign of weakness or slackness in the government. There is no man so bad that he cannot be made good for something. No man should be put to death, even as an example, if he can be left to live without danger to ...

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

To renounce liberty is to renounce being a man, to surrender the rights of humanity and even its duties.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

To renounce freedom is to renounce one's humanity, one's rights as a man and equally one's duties.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

...the Moon, the enemy of poets... ("Merchant's Two Sons")

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Why should we build our happiness on the opinons of others, when we can find it in our own hearts?

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know much say little.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Gratitude is a duty which ought to be paid, but which none have a right to expect.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Falsehood has an infinity of combinations, but truth has only one mode of being.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Free people, remember this maxim: we may acquire liberty, but it is never recovered if it is once lost.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

A feeble body weakens the mind.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Absolute silence leads to sadness. It is the image of death.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

No true believer could be intolerant or a persecutor. If I were a magistrate and the law carried the death penalty against atheists, I would begin by sending to the stake whoever denounced another.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

We are born weak, we need strength; helpless, we need aid; foolish, we need reason. All that we lack at birth, all that we need when we come to man's estate, is the gift of education.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Do I dare set forth here the most important, the most useful rule of all education? It is not to save time, but to squander it.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Author Bio

  • NameJean-Jacques Rousseau
  • DescriptionGenevan philosopher
  • BornJune 28, 1712
  • DiedJuly 2, 1778
  • CountryFrance; Switzerland
  • ProfessionPhilosopher; Botanist; Composer; Choreographer; Writer; Musicologist; Literary; Musician; Novelist; Autobiographer; Music Theorist