"People in their natural state are basically good. But this natural innocence,however, is corrupted by the evils of society."
"If all were perfect Christians, individuals would do their duty; the people would be obedient to the laws, the magistrates incorrupt, and there would be neither vanity nor luxury in such a state."
3 likes
Source: Emile bk. 1 (1762)
About the author
Same author
More quotes by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
"I prefer liberty with danger than peace with slavery."
"There are always four sides to a story: your side, their side, the truth and what really happened."
"Freedom is the power to choose our own chains"
"The freedom of Mankind does not lie in the fact that can do what we want, but that we do not have to do that which we do not want."
"Plants are shaped by cultivation and men by education. .. We are born weak, we need strength; we are born totally unprovided, we need aid; we are born stupid, we need judgment. Everything we do not have at our birth and which we need when we are grown is given us by education."