Jean-Jacques Rousseau quotes

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Swiss-born philosopher, writer, and composer, influential during the Enlightenment. His work greatly shaped modern political thought and educational philosophy. He inspired later movements for democracy, freedom, and individual rights. Here are 209 of his quotes:

Man was born free, but is everywhere in bondage. (Jean-Jacques Rousseau)
The thirst after happiness is never extinguished in the heart of man. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Happiness: a good bank account, a good cook, and a good digestion. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Gratitude is a duty which ought to be paid, but which none have a right to expect. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Insults are the arguments employed by those who are in the wrong. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know much say little. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Accent is the soul of language it gives to it both feeling and truth. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness? View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Those that are most slow in making a promise are the most faithful in the performance of it. (Jean-Jacques Rousseau)
Nature never deceives us; it is we who deceive ourselves. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
It is too difficult to think nobly when one thinks only of earning a living. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
All of my misfortunes come from having thought too well of my fellows. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Every man has a right to risk his own life for the preservation of it. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Remorse sleeps during prosperity but awakes bitter consciousness during adversity. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Falsehood has an infinity of combinations, but truth has only one mode of being. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
An honest man nearly always thinks justly. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
He thinks like a philosopher, but governs like a king. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Virtue is a state of war, and to live in it we have always to combat with ourselves. (Jean-Jacques Rousseau)
All that time is lost which might be better employed. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
I hate books; they only teach us to talk about things we know nothing about. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Days of absence, sad and dreary, Clothed in sorrow's dark array, Days of absence, I am weary She I love is far away. View quote
Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau - Image
Occupation: French Philosopher
Born: June 28, 1712
Died: July 2, 1778
Quotes count: 209
Wikipedia: Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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