Mi talento consistía en saber decir a los hombres verdades útiles, pero duras, con bastante valor y energía; - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

On me dit qu'il fallait une révélation pour apprendre aux hommes la manière dont Dieu voulait être servi ; on assigne en preuve la diversité des cultes bizarres qu'ils ont institués, et l'on ne voit pas que cette diversité même vient de la fantaisie des révélations. Dès que les peuples se sont avisés de faire parler Dieu, chacun l'a fait parler à sa mode et lui a fait dire ce qu'il a voulu. Si l'on n'eût écouté que ce que Dieu dit au coeur de l'homme, il n'y aurait jamais eu qu'une religion sur la terre.

İradesini gerçekleştiren tek insan, bunun için başkasının yardımına gereksinimi olmayan insandır: Buradan, tüm iyiliklerin en başta geleninin otorite değil, özgürlük olduğu sonucu çıkar. Gerçekten özgür olan insan yalnızca yapabileceğini ister ve hoşuna gideni yapar. İşte bu benim temel özdeyişim. Yeter ki bunu çocuklara uygulayalım, o zaman tüm eğitim kuralları bundan doğacaktır.

Let's not be dazzled by the sententious glitter with which error and lying often cover themselves. Society is not created by the crowd, and bodies come together in vain when hearts reject each other. The truly sociable man is more difficult in his relationships than others; those which consist only in false appearances cannot suit him. He prefers to live far from wicked men without thinking about them, than to see them and hate them. He prefers to flee his enemy rather than seek him out to harm him. A person who knows no other society than that of the heart will not seek his society in your circles. That is How J.J. must have thought and behaved before the conspiracy of which he is the object.