"People in their natural state are basically good. But this natural innocence,however, is corrupted by the evils of society."
"Once you teach people to say what they do not understand, it is easy enough to get them to say anything you like. v One could wish no easier death than that of Socrates, calmly discussing philosophy with his friends; one could fear nothing worse than that of Jesus, dying in torment, among the insults, the mockery, the curses of the whole nation. In the midst of these terrible sufferings, Jesus prays for his cruel murderers. Yes, if the life and death of Socrates are those of a philosopher, the life and death of Christ are those of a God."
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Source: Jean Jacques Rousseau (2015). “The Social Contract”, p.142, Jean Jacques Rousseau
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"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."