Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseauwas a Francophone Genevan 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...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth28 June 1712
CityGeneva, Switzerland
CountryFrance
may eating reason
To abstain that we may enjoy is the epicurianism of reason.
may knaves knavery
Even knaves may be made good for something.
taxation may pay
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.
unique being-unique may
I may not amount to much, but at least I am unique.
desire may want
Being wealthy isn't just a question of having lots of money. It's a question of what we want. Wealth isn't an absolute, it's relative to desire. Every time we seek something that we can't afford, we can be counted as poor, how much money we may actually have.
people different may
I may not be better than other people, but at least I'm different.
men doe may
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.
different may
I may be no better, but at least I am different.
men may covenant
The social pact, far from destroying natural equality, substitutes, on the contrary, a moral and lawful equality for whatever physical inequality that nature may have imposed on mankind; so that however unequal in strength and intelligence, men become equal by covenant and by right.
government uniting may
The problem is to find a form of association which will defend and protect with the whole common force the person and goods of each associate, and in which each, while uniting himself with all, may still obey himself alone, and remain as free as before.
may doe dungeons
One may live tranquilly in a dungeon; but does life consist in living quietly?
thinking may today
[When anything happens, we interpret it as good or bad, but...] We do not know what is really good or bad fortune. [Only the future can decide. For example, what appears to be bad today may in fact lead us to a greater good tomorrow and by the very act of thinking and planning in that positive way, we can help make that good future come true.]
self may gains
Supreme happiness consists in self-content; that we may gain this self-content, we are placed upon this earth and endowed with freedom.
liberty may
Liberty may be gained, but can never be recovered.