The savage lives within himself; social man lives always outside himself; he knows how to live only in the opinion of others, it is, so to speak, fro… - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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The savage lives within himself; social man lives always outside himself; he knows how to live only in the opinion of others, it is, so to speak, from their judgement alone that he derives the sense of his own existence. It is not my subject here to show how such a disposition gives birth to so much indifference to good and evil coupled with such beautiful talk about morality; or how, as everything is reduced to appearances, everything comes to be false and warped: honour, friendship, virtue, and often even vices themselves, since in the end men discover the secret of boasting about vices; or show how, as a result of always asking others what we are and never daring to put the question to ourselves in the midst of so much philosophy, humanity, civility and so many sublime maxims, we have only façades, deceptive and frivolous, honour without virtue, reason without wisdom, and pleasure without happiness.

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About Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (June 28, 1712 – July 2, 1778) was a major French-speaking Genevan philosopher of Enlightenment whose political ideas influenced the French Revolution, the development of socialist theory, and the growth of nationalism.

Biography information from Wikiquote

Also Known As

Alternative Names: Citizen of Geneva Jean Jacques Rousseau J. J. Rousseau Rousseau J.J. Rousseau JJ Rousseau
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Shorter versions of this quote

In fact, the real source of all those differences, is that the savage lives within himself, whereas the citizen, constantly beside himself, knows only how to live in the opinion of others; insomuch that it is, if I may say so, merely from their judgment that he derives the consciousness of his own existence.

Additional quotes by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Çocuk sözle hiçbir şey yapmaz; onun için ancak iyi olduğunu hissettiği şey iyidir. Siz onu bilgisinin önüne geçirerek onun uzgörüsünü kullandırdığınızı sanıyorsanız sizde uzgörü yok demektir. Belki hiçbir zaman kullanmayacağı kimi yararsız araçlarla donatmak için onu insanın en evrensel aracı olan şeyden, sağduyudan yoksun bırakıyorsunuz; onu her zaman başkaları tarafından yönetilmeye, başkalarının elinde bir oyuncak olmaya alıştırıyorsunuz; küçükken uslu olmasını istiyorsunuz; bu, büyüdüğünde saf, bön biri olmasını istemek demektir. Ona durmadan şunu söylüyorsunuz: Sizden tüm istediklerim sizin yararınız içindir; ama siz bunu anlayacak durumda değilsiniz. İstediklerimi yapıp yapmamanızın beni ilgilendiren bir yanı yok, siz yalnızca kendiniz için çalışıyorsunuz. Şimdi onu uslu kılmak için söylediğiniz tüm bu güzel sözlerle, bir gün onu tuzağına düşürmek ya da ona çılgınlıklarını kabul ettirmek isteyecek bir hayalperestin, bir simyacının, bir şarlatanın, bir dalaverecinin ya da her cinsten bir delinin ona söyleyeceği sözleri de inandırıcı kılıyorsunuz.

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To me money has never seemed to be as precious a thing as it is usually found to be. Further; to me it has never seemed very convenient; it is good for nothing by itself; one must transform it in order to enjoy it; one must buy, haggle, often be a dupe, pay well, in order to be poorly served. I would like something of good quality; with my money I am sure of having one of bad quality. I buy a fresh egg dearly, it is old; a fine fruit, it is green; a girl, she is tainted. I love good wine; but where is it to be found? At a wine merchant's? Whatever I might do he will poison me. Do I absolutely want to be well served? How many cares, what bother! to have friends, correspondents, to give commissions, to write, to go, to come, to wait, and often in the end still to be fooled. How much trouble with my money! I fear it more than I love good wine

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