Each member of the community gives himself to it at the instant of its constitution, just as he actually is, himself and all his forces, including all goods in his possession.

I bold it impossible, that the great monarchies of Europe can subsist much longer; they all affect magnificence and splendor.

What good would it be to possess the whole universe if one were its only survivor?

Supreme happiness consists in self-content.

We are born, so to speak, twice over; born into existence, and born into life; born a human being, and born a man.

It is well known that a loose and easy dress contributes much to give to both sexes those fine proportions of body that are observable in the Grecian statues, and which serve as models to our present artists.

Men and women are made for each other, but their mutual dependence differs in degrees; man is dependent on woman through his desires; woman is dependent on man through her desires and also through her needs; he could do without her better than she can do without him. She cannot fulfill her purpose in life without his aid, without his goodwill, without his respect.....Nature herself has decreed that woman, both for herself and her children, should be at the mercy of man s judgment.