Russia will never be really civilized, because it was civilized too soon. Peter has a genius for imitation; but he lacked true genius, which is creat… - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Der wirklich freie Mensch will nur, was er vermag, und tut nur, was ihm gefällt.

Everything on earth is in continuous flux: nothing preserves a constant fixed form, and our affections towards external things pass and change with them... There is nothing solid to which the heart can attach itself. Also, there is scarcely a pleasure here below which does not pass; as for enduring happiness, I doubt that it can be known. In our most vivid joys there is scarcely an instant at which our hearts could truly say: would that this moment might last forever; and how can one call that transient state happy which still leaves our hearts disturbed and empty, which makes us regret something beforehand or still desire something afterwards.

Il fut mis dans une maison de charité, où l’âge et le regret de se voir loin de sa famille le mirent au tombeau presque en arrivant.