Jean-Jacques Rousseau

It is not by satisfying desires that one becomes happy, but by moderating them.

The people's good is the highest law.

To live is not to breathe but to act. It is to make use of our organs, our senses, our faculties, of all the parts of ourselves which give us the feeling of our existence.

The most useful and honorable science is that of self-preservation.

Force does not constitute right... obedience is due only to legitimate powers.

The truth is that men are not naturally equal.

The more we are civilized, the more we are corrupted.

The only natural man is the savage.

I have never thought that freedom was made for slaves.

It is not enough to be happy, one must also be seen to be happy.

The first step towards good is to know what is evil.

All my misfortunes come from my having too good an opinion of myself.

The most dangerous of all enterprises is to make a man think.

The rich man's son, who has never known want, will never know the value of things.

The only way to avoid being deceived is to be suspicious.

I have always found that the best way to make people listen to you is to say nothing.

The greatest evil is not death, but a life without purpose.

The more I see of men, the more I love my dog.

It is by doing good that we become good.

The true philosopher is not the one who knows many things, but the one who knows himself.