The 70 most famous phrases of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The phrases of Jean-Jacques Rousseau that we will see below They serve to understand the way of thinking of this Swiss philosopher.

His thinking as a revolutionary intellectual was reflected in some of his most important works, such as The social contract; * Emilio *, or Of Education.

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The 70 most famous phrases of Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in Switzerland in June 1712. Within all your occupations he stood out as a philosopher, pedagogue and writer, although he also dedicated himself to music, as well as the botanical and naturalistic world.

Despite as an intellectual he is included within the current of The Enlightenment, his thinking was characterized by being the opposite of that of the greatest representatives of this current, such as Voltaire, with which he maintained a deep enmity.

The ideas of Rousseau supposed a revolution in the pedagogical currents of his time and his political ideas exerted a great influence on the evolution of the republican theories characteristic of the revolution French.

His main contributions to political philosophy they were, among other things, the concepts of "alienation" and "general will". It was this last thought that Kant himself made his "categorical imperative".

Next we will see a selection of phrases by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the philosopher who best defined the essence of the European Romanticism that was to come.

1. Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains

A phrase from the s. XVIII that is still very current in our times.

2. Man is good by nature, it is society that corrupts him

At birth we ignore the concepts of good and evilIt is our environment that determines it.

3. The only custom to teach children is not to undergo any

Autonomy during childhood is essential for the correct development of the child.

4. The right to vote is a right that nothing and no one can take away from citizens

The foundation on which modern democracies should be built.

5. To renounce our freedom is to renounce our quality of men, and with this all the duties of humanity

The freedom of people should be intrinsic to their condition as human beings.

6. It is more valuable to have respect than the admiration of people

The admiration is usually superficial, the respect is founded.

7. A good father is worth a hundred teachers

Homeschooling is essential in raising children.

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8. Faith is a matter of geography

Despite the fact that beliefs, like cultures, can be imported and exported.

9. It is a very necessary forecast to understand that it is not possible to predict everything

A sentence with overwhelming logic but that we don't always remember.

10. We are curious in proportion to our culture

The more we know, the more we crave for knowledge.

11. To be an adult is to be alone

A somewhat pessimistic view of life, but true on many occasions.

12. No one can be happy if he doesn't appreciate himself

High self-esteem is essential for a smooth operation in any plane of life.

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13. I know of no greater enemy of man than the one who is the friend of the whole world

Falsehood is the worst enemy of good relationships.

14. The man who has lived the longest is not the one who has completed the longest, but the one who has experienced the most in life

An ode that we live intensely every minute of our lives.

15. There is a book always open to all eyes: nature

The beauty and wisdom of nature are available to anyone.

16. Reason often deceives us, conscience never

We cannot always trust what our logic dictates.

17. Falsehood has infinite combinations, but truth has only one way of being

Although lies can be presented in a thousand ways, the absolute truth only has one.

18. The first step towards good is not to do evil

Although it seems obvious, sometimes we forget. One of Rousseau's phrases based on aphorisms.

19. Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet

By all it is known that the good is made to wait.

20. Regrets are numbed in prosperity and sharpened in bad times

In the hardest moments all our ghosts usually arise.

21. Every man is useful to humanity by the simple fact of existing

Each and every person on the planet is important to its development.

22. If you remove the love of beauty from your hearts, you will remove all the charm of living

The beauty of things it is one of the great pleasures of life.

23. Be ashamed of committing a fault, not of repairing it

We must never forget it: rectifying our mistakes is being wise people.

24. Childhood has its own ways of seeing, thinking and feeling; There is nothing more foolish than to try to replace them with ours

It is necessary for children to live their childhood as such, without trying to impose the vision or customs of adults on them.

25. I have always believed that the good was if not the beautiful put into action

There is great beauty in good works.

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26. Who does not hate vice very much, does not love virtue very much

Although a bit outdated for the present time, it is necessary to put some limits in our life.

27. Cities are the abyss of the human species

The number of inhabitants of a city is inversely proportional to the relationship that exists between them.

28. Conscience is the voice of souls, passions are the voices of the body

The virtue is found in knowing how to find the balance.

29. Love letters are written starting without knowing what is going to be said, and ending without knowing what has been said

Love always tends to cloud our minds.

30. Equality in wealth must consist in the fact that no citizen is so opulent that he can buy from another, and no one so poor that he is forced to sell himself.

A phrase that should be applied to any context, place or time that the human species goes through.

31. Insults are the reasons for those who are guilty

Guilt deprives us of reasoning to discuss.

32. The strongest is not always strong enough to be master

Leaders are not built on strength, but on aptitude.

33. I hate bad maxims more than bad actions

Bad principles can be worse than bad behaviors.

34. You will never be friars if you are not altar boys first

To be able to go to the highest, you always have to start from the lowest.

35. I'd rather be a man of paradoxes than a man of prejudice

While paradoxes make us think, prejudices blind us.

36. If reason makes man, feelings drive him

Are feelings the engine of our lives?

37. All passions are good as long as one owns them, and all are bad when they enslave us

There is no greater slavery than when it is the feelings of oneself that are imposed.

38. Fears, suspicions, coldness, caution, hatred and betrayal are frequently hidden under that uniform and fallacious veil of courtesy.

Under the façade of courtesy, the worst of intentions can be hidden.

39. The soul resists acute pain much better than prolonged sadness

The feelings of sadness that settle in us can be more toxic than a bad experience.

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40. He is truly free who only wants what he is capable of doing and that he does what he likes

A truly inspiring maxim.

41. It is very difficult to think nobly when you only think to live

If we only think of ourselves, we will rarely be good people

42. There is a lot of difference between traveling to see countries and to see towns

The best of traveling it is to integrate into the culture we visit and not be a mere tourist.

43. General and abstract ideas are the source of humanity's greatest errors.

Thinking specifically is a guarantee of success.

44. Working is an indispensable duty for the social man. Rich or poor, powerful or weak, every idle citizen is a thief.

To work is to make ourselves useful to society.

45. Man suffers from few evils, except those which he himself attracts by the abuse of his faculties.

There is no worse enemy than yourself.

46. The money you have is an instrument of freedom, the one you seek is an instrument of servitude

We will never be completely free if we do not stop depending on the material.

47. My greatest misfortune has always been not being able to resist flattery

Vanity makes us slaves.

48. Man is an uninteresting miracle

The potential of the human being is inversely proportional to his interest in exploiting it.

49. Intonation is the soul of speech

How it is said is more important than what is said

50. An honest man will never find a better friend than his wife.

Should our partner also be our best friend?

51. When coming out of certain mouths, the same truth has a bad smell

The truth always has as many interpretations and interests as the people who tell it.

52. If there were a nation of gods, they would be governed democratically; but such a perfect government is not suitable for men

Is man capable of achieving a true democracy?

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53. The government had its origin in the purpose of finding a form of association that defends and protects the person and property of each one with the common force of all

A phrase by Rousseau that many current politicians should remember.

54. Freedom is obedience to the law that you have designed yourself

We are slaves to our morals.

55. Freedom is not a fruit that grows in all climates and that is why it is not available to all peoples.

Unfortunately, it is a universal reason, although it should not be.

56. Vice rarely appears in opposition to honesty; but almost always takes the disguise of this

Integrity or decency is the best mask for the corrupt.

57. It is not enough for a wife to be faithful, it is necessary that her husband, her friends and her neighbors believe in her fidelity

What would Cesar's wife think?

58. It is very difficult to submit to obedience the one who does not seek to command

Who does not want to send, much less wants to be sent.

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59. Absolute silence leads to sadness. This is the image of death

A great phrase by Rousseau to ponder.

60. What wisdom can be found that is greater than goodness?

Is being a good man the best you can hope for?

61. Nature never deceives us; we are the ones who fool ourselves

Is it objective reality or is it we who alter it?

62. He who blushes is already guilty; true innocence is not ashamed of anything

Lies cannot be hidden for a long period of time, they always end up coming out

63. The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination no

Creative people own an infinite universe.

64. Happiness: A good bank account, a good cook, and good digestion

Is money and food the most important thing in the world?

65. It may not be better, but at least I'm different

A genuine personality has nothing to envy to be perfect.

66. Childhood is the dream of reason

Are the first years of our life where we dream the most and think the least?

67. It is a mania shared by philosophers of all times to deny what exists and explain what does not.

Philosophy has always been based on doubting what is pre-established and analyzing what is not known.

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68. I hate books, they only teach us to talk about things we know nothing about

Is the best education in books or in experiences?

69. Virtue is a state of war and to live in it we always have to fight against ourselves

Temptations are always lurking.

70. Money is a seed of money and the first coin is sometimes more difficult to get than the second million

Is it true that money attracts more money?