I hear from afar the shouts of that false wisdom which is ever dragging us onwards, counting the present as nothing, and pursuing without pause a fut… - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

En vérité, je ne songeais guère à faire ni comme les autres ni autrement qu'eux. Je désirais sincèrement de faire ce qui était bien.

I know that [civilized men] do nothing but boast incessantly of the peace and repose they enjoy in their chains.... But when I see [barbarous man] sacrifice pleasures, repose, wealth, power, and life itself for the preservation of this sole good which is so disdained by those who have lost it; when I see animals born free and despising captivity break their heads against the bars of their prison; when I see multitudes of entirely naked savages scorn European voluptuousness and endure hunger, fire, the sword, and death to preserve only their independence, I feel it does not behoove slaves to reason about freedom.

The strongest is never strong enough to be always the master, unless he transforms strength into right, and obedience into duty.