Quotes from Jean Jacques Rousseau

What good is it looking for our happiness in the opinion of others if we can find it in ourselves?

In the strict sense of the term, a true democracy has never existed, and never will exist. It is against natural order that the great number should govern and that the few should be governed.

Dizer que um homem se dá gratuitamente é uma afirmação absurda e inconcebível; tal ato é ilegítimo e nulo, tão-somente porque aquele que o pratica não está de posse do seu bom-senso. Dizer a mesma coisa de todo um povo é supor uma nação de loucos e a loucura não cria direito.

Girls should learn that so much finery is only put on to hide defects, and that the triumph of beauty is to shine by itself.

Liberty can be obtained, it cannot be regained.

I believe compulsory labor is less opposed to liberty than taxes.

Dil öÄŸretimini eÄŸitimin yarars?z yanlar? aras?nda saymama ÅŸa??lacakt?r; ama burada yaln?zca ilk yaÅŸlardaki öÄŸretimden söz ettiÄŸim unutulmamal?; hem ne denirse densin, hiçbir çocuÄŸun, harika çocuklar d???nda, on iki ya da on beÅŸ ya??na kadar gerçekten iki dil öÄŸrenmiÅŸ olaca??n? kesinlikle sanm?yorum.

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

Can s?k?c? bir budalal??? betimlemem gerekseydi, çocuklar?na din dersi veren bir bilgiçi betimlerdim. Bir çocuÄŸu deli yapmak isteseydim, onu öÄŸrendiÄŸi din bilgisini ezbere yineleyip anlat?rken, söylediklerini aç?klamak zorunda b?rak?rd?m.

The desire to be better understood has been extinguished from my heart.

you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us al, and that the earth itself belongs to nobody

Yeryüzünde benim için her ÅŸey bitti. Burada bana art?k ne iyilik edebilirler ne de kötülük. Ne umaca??m ne de korkaca??m bir ÅŸey kald? bu dünyada; zavall? bahts?z bir ölümlü ve Tanr? kadar kayg?s?z, telaÅŸs?z olan ben, uçurumun en dibindeyim.

Singur, n-am cunoscut niciodat? plictiseala, chiar atunci când nu f?ceam nimic: imaginaÈ›ia mea, umplând toate golurile, era ea singur? de ajuns spre a m? È›ine ocupat.

I will explain myself; but this will be to take the most useless, most superfluous precaution; for everything that I will tell you could only be understood by those who do not need to be told

Every free action has two causes which concur in producing it, one moral, namely the will which determines it, the other physical, namely the power which executes it.

If Sparta and Rome perished, what state can hope to live forever? Hence, if we wish to form a lasting institution, let us not think about making it eternal. In order to succeed we should not attempt the impossible, or flatter ourselves that we are giving the work of men a solidity that does not belong to human things.

What good is it to seek our happiness in the opinion of others if we cannot find it in ourselves?

He ahí las pruebas funestas de que la mayor parte de nuestros males son obra nuestra, casi todos los cuales hubiéramos evitado conservando la manera de vivir simple, uniforme y solitaria que nos fue prescrita por la Naturaleza. Si ella nos ha destinado a ser sanos, me atrevo casi a asegurar que el estado de reflexión es un estado contra la naturaleza, y que el hombre que medita es un animal degenerado.

ÖrneÄŸin çocuk gördüÄŸü bir ÅŸeyi istiyorsa ve bu da ona verilebilir bir ÅŸeyse, o zaman bu ÅŸeyi çocuÄŸa getirmektense çocuÄŸu ona götürmek daha doÄŸru olur: O, bu uygulamadan ya??na göre bir sonuç ç?kar?r ve bu sonucu ona esinlemenin baÅŸka hiçbir yolu yoktur.

Mancando le qualità morali di misura precisa, se anche ci fosse l'accordo sul segno, come ci potrebbe essere sulla valutazione?

The decent man and the lover holds back even when he could obtain what he wishes. To win this silent consent is to make use of all the violence permitted in love. To read it in the eyes, to see it in the ways in spite of the mouth's denial, that is the art of he who knows how to love. If he then completes his happiness, he is not brutal, he is decent. He does not insult chasteness; he respects it; he serves it.

LuaÈ›i femeia cea mai cuminte, cea mai înÈ›eleapt?, cea mai puÈ›in st?pânit? de simÈ›uri; crima cea mai de neiertat pe care un b?rbat, c?ruia chiar dac? îi d? prea puÈ›in? atenÈ›ie, poate s? o s?vârÈ™easc? fa?? de ea, este de a putea s? o aib? È™i a nu o face.

My heart has been purified in the crucible of adversity.

Learning is borrowed knowledge; genius is knowledge innate.