Jean-Jacques Rousseau Quotes

“As soon as any man says of the affairs of the State "What does it matter to me?" the State may be given up for lost.”

“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.”

“Every person has a right to risk their own life for the preservation of it.”

“If there were a nation of Gods, it would govern itself democratically. A government so perfect is not suited to men.”

“In a well governed state, there are few punishments, not because there are many pardons, but because criminals are rare; it is when a state is in decay that the multitude of crimes is a guarantee of impunity.”

“In the strict sense of the term, a true democracy has never existed, and never will exist. It is against natural order that the great number should govern and that the few should be governed.”

“It is easier to conquer than to administer. With enough leverage, a finger could overturn the world; but to support the world, one must have the shoulders of Hercules.”

“Laws are always useful to those with possessions and harmful to those who have nothing.”

“Man is born free, but is everywhere in chains.”

“The body politic, like the human body, begins to die from its birth, and bears in itself the causes of its destruction.”