L'homme est né libre, et partout il est dans les fers. - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

L'uomo è nato libero e ovunque si trova in catene

Cuando por casualidad encuentro alguno que ha escapado a las instrucciones comunes, o que al no conocer mi cara no me muestra ninguna aversión, el honesto saludo de ese solo me restituye de la actitud arisca de los demás. Los olvido para no ocuparme sino de él, y me imagino que tiene una de esas almas como la mía, donde el odio no podría penetrar.

Sovereignty, for the same reason as makes it inalienable, cannot be represented; it lies essentially in the general will, and will does not admit of representation: it is either the same, or other; there is no intermediate possibility. The
deputies of the people, therefore, are not and cannot be its representatives: they are merely its stewards, and can carry through no definitive acts. Every law the people has not ratified in person is null and void — is in fact, not a law. The people of England regards itself as free; but it is grossly mistaken; it is free only during the election of members of parliament. As soon as they are elected,
slavery overtakes it, and it is nothing. The use it makes of the short moments of liberty it enjoys shows indeed that it deserves to lose them.