Binbir yere bağlanmaya çalışırken hepsi elimden kaçıp da kendi kendime kalınca, dengemi yeniden buldum. Her yandan sıkıştırılmama karşın o dengeyi ko… - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

It is true that the genius of assembled men or of peoples is quite different from a man's character in private, and that one would know the human heart very imperfectly if he did not examine it also in the multitude. But it is no less true that one must begin by studying man in order to judge men, and that he who knew each individual's inclinations perfectly could foresee all their effects when combined in the body of the people.

Povos livres, lembrem-se desta máxima: pode-se adquirir a liberdade, mas recuperá-la jamais.

Finally, when the State close to ruin subsists only on an illusory and vain form, when the social bond is broken in all hearts, when the barest interest brazenly assumes the sacred name of public good; then the general will grows mute, everyone, prompted by secret motives, no more states opinions as a Citizen than if the State had never existed, and iniquitous decrees with no other goal than particular interest are falsely passed under the name of Laws.