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

Nature never deceives us; it is we who deceive ourselves.

It is hard to prevent oneself from believing what one so keenly desires.

Posterity is always just.

One may live tranquilly in a dungeon; but does life consist in living quietly?

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

Ought to have a universal compulsory force to move and arrange each part in the manner best suited to the whole. Just as nature gives each man an absolute power over all his members, the social compact gives the body politic an absolute power over all its members." "We grant that each person alienates, by the social compact, only that portion of his power, his goods, and liberty whose use is of consequence to the community; but we must also grant that only the sovereign is the judge of what is of consequence.