Les peuples une fois accoutumés à des maîtres ne sont plus en état de s'en passer. S'ils tentent de secouer le joug, ils s'éloignent d'autant plus de… - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

As a man's conduct is controlled by public fact, so is her religion ruled by authority. The daughter should follow her mother's religion, the wife her husband's. Were that religion false, the docility which leads mother and daughter to submit to nature's laws would blot out the sin of error in the sight of Goddess. Unable to judge for themselves they should accept the judgment of father and husband as that of the church. While men unaided cannot deduce the rules of their faith, neither can they assign limits to that faith by the evidence of reason; they allow themselves to be driven hither and thither by all sorts of external influences, they are ever above or below the truth. Extreme in everything, they are either altogether reckless or altogether pious; you never find them able to combine virtue and piety. Their natural exaggeration is not wholly to blame; the ill-regulated control exercised over them by men is partly responsible. Loose morals bring religion into contempt; the terrors of remorse make it a tyrant; this is why women have always too much or too little religion. As a woman's religion is controlled by authority it is more important to show her plainly what to believe than to explain the reasons for belief; for faith attached to ideas half-understood is the main source of fanaticism, and faith demanded on behalf of what is absurd leads to madness or unbelief. Whether our catechisms tend to produce impiety rather than fanaticism I cannot say, but I do know that they lead to one or other. In the first place, when you teach religion to little girls never make it gloomy or tiresome, never make it a task or a duty, and therefore never give them anything to learn by heart, not even their prayers. Be content to say your own prayers regularly in their presence, but do not compel them to join you. Let their prayers be short, as Christ himself has taught us. Let them always be said with becoming reverence and respect; remember that if we ask the Almighty to give heed to our words, we should at least give heed to what we mean to say.

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.

De souvereiniteit kan niet gerepresenteerd worden; om dezelfde reden waarom die zich niet laat vervreemden; zij bestaat in essentie uit de algemene wil en de wil laat zich niet representeren; ofwel die
blijft wat die al was, of dat is niet het geval, daar zit niets tussen. De afgevaardigden van het volk kunnen
daarom niet zijn representanten zijn, zij zijn slechts zijn zaakwaarnemers; er is niets waarover zij vrijelijk kunnen beslissen’. (.....) ‘het Engelse volk denkt vrij te zijn. Maar het vergist zich daar lelijk in. Vrij is het slechts op verkiezingsdag, daarna is het slaaf, niets. En in de zeldzame momenten dat het de vrijheid heeft, maakt het er een zodanig gebruik van dat het verdient die vrijheid te verliezen’. (Quoted by Frank Ankersmit in his Farewell Oration given on April 12th, 2010)