People in their natural state are basically good. But this natural innocence,however, is corrupted by the evils of society.

I prefer liberty with danger than peace with slavery.

Nothing is less in our power than the heart, and far from commanding we are forced to obey it.

There is no evildoer who could not be made good for something.

Everything is in constant flux on this earth. Nothing keeps the same unchanging shape, and our affections, being attached to things outside us, necessarily change and pass away as they do. Always out ahead of us or lagging behind, they recall a past which is gone or anticipate a future which may never come into being; there is nothing solid there for the heart to attach itself to. Thus our earthly joys are almost without exception the creatures of a moment.

Posterity is always just.

We can never put ourselves in the shoes of children; we cannot fathom their thoughts, we lend them ours; and always following ourown reasoning, we stuff their heads with extravagance and error.