Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

23 quotes

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer, has become one of the most frequently quoted voices on subjects that matter. Whether reflecting on Nature or Men, Jean-Jacques Rousseau brought uncommon clarity to every subject. Browse 26 quotes by Jean-Jacques Rousseau that cover ground from Nature, Men, Knowledge, Education, and Death. One quote that captures their voice: "What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?"

“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Wisdom

All Quotes by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

“Do I dare set forth here the most important, the most useful rule of all education? It is not to save time, but to squander it.”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Education

“Absolute silence leads to sadness. It is the image of death.”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Death

“Base souls have no faith in great individuals.”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Faith

“Nature never deceives us it is we who deceive ourselves.”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Nature

“People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know much say little.”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Great

“No true believer could be intolerant or a persecutor. If I were a magistrate and the law carried the death penalty against atheists, I would begin by sending to the stake whoever denounced another.”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Death

“How many famous and high-spirited heroes have lived a day too long?”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Famous

“Take from the philosopher the pleasure of being heard and his desire for knowledge ceases.”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Knowledge

“Plant and your spouse plants with you weed and you weed alone.”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Alone

“Although modesty is natural to man, it is not natural to children. Modesty only begins with the knowledge of evil.”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Knowledge

“Money is the seed of money, and the first guinea is sometimes more difficult to acquire than the second million.”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Money

“Reading, solitude, idleness, a soft and sedentary life, intercourse with women and young people, these are perilous paths for a young man, and these lead him constantly into danger.”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Women

“Virtue is a state of war, and to live in it we have always to combat with ourselves.”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

War

“We are born weak, we need strength helpless, we need aid foolish, we need reason. All that we lack at birth, all that we need when we come to man's estate, is the gift of education.”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Education

“God made me and broke the mold.”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

God

“Falsehood has an infinity of combinations, but truth has only one mode of being.”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Truth

“I have resolved on an enterprise that has no precedent and will have no imitator. I want to set before my fellow human beings a man in every way true to nature and that man will be myself.”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Nature

“The world of reality has its limits the world of imagination is boundless.”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Imagination

“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Wisdom

“Happiness: a good bank account, a good cook, and a good digestion.”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Happiness