Jean-Jacques Rousseau Quotes
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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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Men speak from knowledge, women from imagination.
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I only see clearly what I remember.
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The majesty of the Scriptures strikes me with admiration, as the purity of the gospel has its influence on my heart.
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Religious persecutors are not believers, they are rascals.
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It is believed that physiognomy is only a simple development of the features already marked out by nature. It is my opinion, however, that in addition to this development, the features come insensibly to be formed and assume their shape from the frequent and habitual expression of certain affections of the soul. These affections are marked on the countenance; nothing is more certain than this; and when they turn into habits, they must leave on it durable impressions.
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Watch a cat when it enters a room for the first time. It searches and smells about, it is not quiet for a moment, it trusts nothing until it has examined and made acquaintance with everything.
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The bigger a state becomes the more liberty diminishes.
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We do not know either unalloyed happiness or unmitigated misfortune. Everything in this world is a tangled yarn; we taste nothing in its purity; we do not remain two moments in the same state. Our affections as well as bodies, are in a perpetual flux.
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He who has the base necessities of life should pay nothing; taxation on him who has a surplus may, if need be; extend to everything beyond necessities.
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Men and women are made for each other, but their mutual dependence differs in degrees; man is dependent on woman through his desires; woman is dependent on man through her desires and also through her needs; he could do without her better than she can do without him. She cannot fulfill her purpose in life without his aid, without his goodwill, without his respect.....Nature herself has decreed that woman, both for herself and her children, should be at the mercy of man s judgment.
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I loved too sincerely, too completely, I venture to say, to be able to be happy easily.
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Every artists wants to be applauded
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Singing and dancing alone will not advance one in the world. [Fr., Qui bien chante et bien danse fait un metier qui peu avance.]
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As a general rule-never substitute the symbol for the thing signified, unless it is impossible to show the thing itself; for the child's attention is so taken up with the symbol that he will forget what it signifies.
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There is a period in life when we go backwards as we advance.
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Good laws lead to the making of better ones; bad ones bring about worse.
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The general will is always right.
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Force does not constitute right... obedience is due only to legitimate powers.
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The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.
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Virtue is a state of war, and to live in it we have always to combat with ourselves.
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Love childhood, indulge its sports, its pleasures, its delightful instincts. Who has not sometimes regretted that age when laughter was ever on the lips, and when the heart was ever at peace?
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I bold it impossible, that the great monarchies of Europe can subsist much longer; they all affect magnificence and splendor.
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With children use force; with men reason; such is the natural order of things. The wise man requires no law.