It is true that the genius of assembled men or of peoples is quite different from a man's character in private, and that one would know the human hea… - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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It is true that the genius of assembled men or of peoples is quite different from a man's character in private, and that one would know the human heart very imperfectly if he did not examine it also in the multitude. But it is no less true that one must begin by studying man in order to judge men, and that he who knew each individual's inclinations perfectly could foresee all their effects when combined in the body of the people.