I have never believed that man’s freedom consists in doing what he wants, but rather in never doing what he does not want to do, and this is the free… - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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I have never believed that man’s freedom consists in doing what he wants, but rather in never doing what he does not want to do, and this is the freedom I have always sought after and often achieved, the freedom by virtue of which I have most scandalized my contemporaries. For they, being active, busy, ambitious, detesting freedom in others and not desiring it for themselves, as long as they can sometimes have their way, or rather prevent others from having theirs, they force themselves all their lives to do what they do not want to do and are willing to endure any servitude in order to command

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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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Additional quotes by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Bu kadar acımasızca bir zorlamanın onların huyu, karakteri üstünde etki yapmaması mümkün müdür? İlk duyguları acı ve üzüntüdür: Gereksinim duydukları tüm hareketlerde yalnızca engellerle karşılaşırlar. Zincire vurulmuş bir caniden daha mutsuz olarak, boşuna çabalar, öfkelenir, bağırırlar. İlk çıkardıkları ses ağlama demez misiniz? Pekâlâ böyle olduğunu sanıyorum:
Doğar doğmaz canlarını sıkıyorsunuz; sizden aldıkları ilk armağan zincirler oluyor. Sizden gördükleri ilk davranış verdiğiniz acılardır. Sesten başka özgür bir şeyleri olmadığına göre, yakınmak için nasıl bunu kullanmasınlar ki? Onlara yaptığınız kötülük yüzünden bağırıyorlar: Böyle eli kolu bağlı durumda olsaydınız, siz onlardan daha çok bağırırdınız.

Our passions are the chief means of self-preservation; to try to destroy them is therefore as absurd as it is useless; this would be to overcome nature, to reshape God's handiwork. Extend self-love to others and it is transformed into virtue, a virtue which has its root in the heart of every one of us.

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Liberty is like those solid and tasty foods or those full-bodied wines which are appropriate for nourishing and strengthening robust constitutions that are used to them, but which overpower, ruin and intoxicate the weak and delicate who are not suited for them.

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