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.

There is not a single ill-doer who could not be turned to some good.

Beware of listening to this impostor; you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody.

It has always pleased me to read while eating if I have no companion; it gives me the society I lack. I devour alternately a page and a mouthful; it is as though my book were dining with me.

Government originated in the attempt to find a form of association that defends and protects the person and property of each with the common force of all.

The general will is always right.

We do not know what really good or bad fortune is.