He is no longer himself, but has become an automaton who has ceased to be guided by his will. - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

I feel an indescribable ecstasy and delirium in melting, as it were, into the system of being, in identifying myself with the whole of nature..

He who knows enough of things to value them at their true worth never says too much; for he can also judge of the attention bestowed on him and the interest aroused by what he says. People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know much say little. It is plain that an ignorant person thinks everything he does know important, and he tells it to everybody. But a well-educated man is not so ready to display his learning; he would have too much to say, and he sees that there is much more to be said, so he holds his peace.

Si je ne considérais que la force et l’effet qui en dérive, je dirais : « Tant qu’un peuple est contraint d’obéir et qu’il obéit, il fait bien ; sitôt qu’il peut secouer le joug, et qu’il le secoue, il fait encore mieux : car, recouvrant sa liberté par le même droit qui la lui a ravie, ou il est fondé à la reprendre, ou on ne l’était point à la lui ôter ». Mais l’ordre social est un droit sacré qui sert de base à tous les autres. Cependant, ce droit ne vient point de la nature ; il est donc fondé sur des conventions. Il s’agit de savoir quelles sont ces conventions.