It is by the activity of our passions, that our reason improves: we covet knowledge merely because we covet enjoyment, and it is impossible to concei… - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

We seek knowledge only because we desire enjoyment, and it is impossible to conceive why a person who has neither desires nor fears would take the trouble to reason.

My passions are extremely violent; while under their influence, nothing can equal my impetuosity; I am an absolute stranger to discretion, respect, fear, or decorum; rude, saucy, violent, and intrepid: no shame can stop, no danger intimidate me. My mind is frequently so engrossed by a single object, that beyond it the whole world is not worth a thought; this is the enthusiasm of a moment, the next, perhaps, I am plunged in a state of annihilation. Take me in my moments of tranquility,

Let us listen to the inner voice of feeling; what healthy mind can reject its evidence? I believe, therefore, that the world is governed by a wise and powerful will; I see it or rather I feel it, and it is a great thing to know this. I see God everywhere in his works; I feel him within myself. Again, I know that I am a free, active being. In vain do you argue this point with me; I feel it, and it is this feeling which speaks to me more forcibly than the reason which disputes it.

Es, pues, la familia, si así se quiere, el primer modelo de las sociedades políticas: el jefe es la imagen del padre, y el pueblo es la imagen de los hijos; y habiendo nacido todos iguales y libres, sólo enajenan su libertad por su utilidad misma.