The money you have gives you freedom; the money you pursue enslaves you.

Whoever refuses to obey the general will will be forced to do so by the entire body; this means merely that he will be forced to be free.

General abstract truth is the most precious of all blessings; without it, man is blind; it is the eye of reason.

To endure is the first thing that a child ought to learn, and that which he will have the most need to know.

Taste is, so to speak, the microscope of the judgment.

The English people believes itself to be free; it is gravely mistaken; it is free only during election of members of parliament; as soon as the members are elected, the people is enslaved; it is nothing. In the brief moment of its freedom, the English people makes such a use of that freedom that it deserves to lose it.

In all the ills that befall us, we are more concerned by the intention than the result. A tile that falls off a roof may injure us more seriously, but it will not wound us so deeply as a stone thrown deliberately by a malevolent hand. The blow may miss, but the intention always strikes home.