"People in their natural state are basically good. But this natural innocence,however, is corrupted by the evils of society."
"Everything is in constant flux on this earth. Nothing keeps the same unchanging shape, and our affections, being attached to things outside us, necessarily change and pass away as they do. Always out ahead of us or lagging behind, they recall a past which is gone or anticipate a future which may never come into being; there is nothing solid there for the heart to attach itself to. Thus our earthly joys are almost without exception the creatures of a moment."
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Source: Jean-Jacques Rousseau (2009). “Emile: Or, On Education”, p.526, The Floating Press
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