Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discourse On The Origin Of Inequality Quotes

We seek knowledge only because we desire enjoyment, and it is impossible to conceive why a person who has neither desires nor fears would take the trouble to reason.

The first man, who, after enclosing a piece of ground, took it into his head to say, "This is mine, " and found people simple enough to believe him, was the true founder of civil society.

But in some great souls, who consider themselves as citizens of the world, and forcing the imaginary barriers that separate people from people...

The first sentiment of man was that of his existence, his first care that of preserving it.