Böylece, ödevleri ve çıkarları sözleşmeyi yapan tarafları karşılıklı olarak yardımlaşmaya zorlar ve aynı insanların bu iki ilişkiye bağlı bütün çıkar… - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The natural man lives for himself; he is the unit, the whole, dependent only on himself and on his like. The citizen is but the numerator of a fraction, whose value depends on its denominator; his value depends upon the whole, that is, on the community. Good social institutions are those best fitted to make a man unnatural, to exchange his independence for dependence, to merge the unit in the group, so that he no longer regards himself as one, but as a part of the whole, and is only conscious of the common life.

Man’s first law is to watch over his own preservation; his first care he owes to himself; and as soon as he reaches the age of reason, he becomes the only judge of the best means to preserve himself; he becomes his own master.

Cuando cada cual tiene su quehacer, nadie habla sino cuando tiene algo que decir; pero cuando no se hace nada, es forzoso estar hablando siempre; y he ahí la más incómoda y peligrosa de todas las sujeciones.