Home / Quotes / Quote by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Quote by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

“I know that [civilized men] do nothing but boast incessantly of the peace and repose they enjoy in their chains.... But when I see [barbarous man] sacrifice pleasures, repose, wealth, power, and life itself for the preservation of this sole good which is so disdained by those who have lost it; when I see animals born free and despising captivity break their heads against the bars of their prison; when I see multitudes of entirely naked savages scorn European voluptuousness and endure hunger, fire, the sword, and death to preserve only their independence, I feel it does not behoove slaves to reason about freedom.”

Book:Discourse on the Origin of Inequality

Work

Discourse on the Origin of Inequality

This book delves into the philosophical and sociological aspects of inequality, examining its historical and contemporary manifestations. more

Author

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a French philosopher, writer, and composer, considered one of the most important figures of the Enlightenment. His works have had a profound impact on subsequent literature, political, and social theories. more

“The morning was a wretched time of day for him. He feared it and it never brought him any good. On no morning of his life had he ever been in good spirits nor done any good before midday, nor ever had a happy idea, nor devised any pleasure for himself or others. By degrees during the afternoon he warmed and became alive, and only towards evening, on his good days, was he productive active and sometimes, aglow with joy.”

Morning Independence Happy Evening Afternoon Steppenwolf Morning Person Night Owl

Book:Steppenwolf

Source: Steppenwolf

“You are a single woman; you intend to remain one. You’ve acquired enough sexual experience to feel you belong to your times. You do not have children; you never intended to. Sustained romantic intensities have not been for you. Your explanation (not an untrue one,though not quite sufficient) is that you have let yourself be shaped by so many conventions, expectations, and requirements (institution’s, people’s), by so much dread of disapproval, that the discipline of solitude—severe solitude—has been required to give you the sense of an independent selfhood. The intensities of friendship suit you better. Friendship’s choreography is for multiple partners: for varied groups and surprisingly sustained duets.”

Identity Independence Being Single

Book:Negroland

Source: Negroland

“In the twentieth century the women who wanted to be on their own were some of the best, the honest ones, those who instinctively rejected the trash. But here came a tragical dilemma. If they accepted Business and served it, they served the very thing from which they fled, and at best became imitation men. If they rejected Business and lived on allowances or incomes, they were in the anomalous position of hunting with the industrial hounds and running with the agricultural hare. An instinctive sense of this made many of them turn "artist." And so Europe was cluttered up with incompetent women "artists" -- not that a woman is incapable of being an artist, but because the assumed role provided an escape. Either situation was impossible, and the solution is not yet found.”

Women Work Business Feminism Independence

Book:Women Must Work

Source: Women Must Work