Quotes by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

As she put it, she knew of nothing so ravishing as having a child whom she could whip whenever she was in a bad mood.(The Queen Fantasque)

Whether the woman shares the mans passion or not, whether she is willing or unwilling to satisfy it, she always repulses him and defends herself, though not always with the same vigour, and therefore not always with the same success.

A child who passes through many hands in turn, can never be well brought up. At every change he makes a secret comparison, which continually tends to lessen his respect for those who control him, and with it their authority over him. If once he thinks there are grown-up people with no more sense than children the authority of age is destroyed and his education is ruined.

I hate books they teach us only to talk about what we do not know.

There is not a single ill-doer who could not be turned to some good.

If the life and death of Socrates were those of a sage the life and death of Jesus were those of a God.

Fame is but the breath of the people and that often unwholesome.

The happiest is he who suffers the least pain the most miserable he who enjoys the least pleasure.

I may not amount to much but at least I am unique.

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

Happiness: a good bank account a good cook and a good digestion.

What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?

To write a good love letter you ought to begin without knowing what you mean to say and to finish without knowing what you have written.

Whoever blushes is already guilty true innocence is ashamed of nothing.

Man was born free and everywhere he is in shackles.

Little privations are easily endured when the heart is better treated than the body.

A feeble body weakens the mind.

All that time is lost which might be better employed.

He who is the most slow in making a promise is the most faithful in the performance of it.

Every man has the right to risk his own life in order to preserve it. Has it ever been said that a man who throws himself out the window to escape a fire is guilty of suicide?