{
  "type": "author",
  "site": {
    "name": "Leafy Quotes",
    "language": "en",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com"
  },
  "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.",
  "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau",
  "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau",
  "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau",
  "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau.json",
  "markdown": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau.md",
  "image": null,
  "quotes_count": 418,
  "books": [
    {
      "title": "Confessions",
      "slug": "confessions",
      "quotes_count": 37,
      "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/bookannex/jean-jacques-rousseau/confessions_978-07-6077-359-8.png",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/confessions"
    },
    {
      "title": "Emile; or On Education",
      "slug": "emile-or-on-education",
      "quotes_count": 371,
      "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/penguin-classics/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education_978-01-4044-563-3.jpg",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education"
    },
    {
      "title": "The Social Contract",
      "slug": "the-social-contract",
      "quotes_count": 21,
      "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/arcturus-publishing/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-social-contract_978-13-9884-033-1-94ff721a.webp",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-social-contract"
    }
  ],
  "recent_quotes": [
    {
      "id": "a83f7e1d-1176-423b-8c46-2516a706cc36",
      "slug": "man-is-born",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-social-contract/man-is-born",
      "text": "Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains. One thinks himself the master of others, and still remains a greater slave than they.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "freedom",
          "slug": "freedom",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Social_Contract#Quotes",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-26T08:10:05"
    },
    {
      "id": "f9addfa9-a0ca-4ffe-8f74-8adf51607317",
      "slug": "where-is-the-man",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/where-is-the-man",
      "text": "Where is the man who owes nothing to the land in which he lives? Whatever that land may be, he owes to it the most precious thing possessed by man, the morality of his actions and the love of virtue.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "homeland",
          "slug": "homeland",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/homeland"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_V",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:17"
    },
    {
      "id": "fd1e8dc4-3494-489f-bd85-64f0284b2d67",
      "slug": "gluttony-is-the",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/gluttony-is-the",
      "text": "Gluttony is the vice of feeble minds. The gourmand has his brains in his palate, he can do nothing but eat; he is so stupid and incapable that the table is the only place for him, and dishes are the only things he knows anything about. Let us leave him to this business without regret; it is better for him and for us.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "stupidity",
          "slug": "stupidity",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/stupidity"
        },
        {
          "name": "food",
          "slug": "food",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/food"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_II",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:16"
    },
    {
      "id": "e128a050-d429-4d14-bcf2-787868b4245a",
      "slug": "nature-never-deceives",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/nature-never-deceives",
      "text": "Nature never deceives us; it is always we who deceive ourselves.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "nature",
          "slug": "nature",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/nature"
        },
        {
          "name": "lies",
          "slug": "lies",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/lies"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_III",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:16"
    },
    {
      "id": "d933fbc3-125f-4592-889b-6a7bb4f295a3",
      "slug": "the-happiest-is-he-who",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/the-happiest-is-he-who",
      "text": "The happiest is he who suffers least; the most miserable is he who enjoys least.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "suffering",
          "slug": "suffering",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suffering"
        },
        {
          "name": "happiness",
          "slug": "happiness",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/happiness"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_II",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:16"
    },
    {
      "id": "9a239b61-efc5-4f6f-8809-2052b7f7f8ef",
      "slug": "the-indifference-of-children",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/the-indifference-of-children",
      "text": "The indifference of children towards meat is one proof that the taste for meat is unnatural; their preference is for vegetable foods, such as milk, pastry, fruit, etc. Beware of changing this natural taste and making children flesh-eaters, if not for their health's sake, for the sake of their character; for how can one explain away the fact that great meat-eaters are usually fiercer and more cruel than other men; this has been recognised at all times and in all places.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "children",
          "slug": "children",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/children"
        },
        {
          "name": "veganism",
          "slug": "veganism",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/veganism"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_II",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:16"
    },
    {
      "id": "4fd93bf7-ed3c-4d2b-8986-558ddd80fc0b",
      "slug": "provided-a-man",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/provided-a-man",
      "text": "Provided a man is not mad, he can be cured of every folly but vanity; there is no cure for this but experience, if indeed there is any cure for it at all; when it first appears we can at least prevent its further growth. But do not on this account waste your breath on empty arguments to prove to the youth that he is like other men and subject to the same weaknesses. Make him feel it or he will never know it.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "experience",
          "slug": "experience",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/experience"
        },
        {
          "name": "vanity",
          "slug": "vanity",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/vanity"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_IV",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:16"
    },
    {
      "id": "38f4ee99-8243-40d2-bf98-8f4cd6e228d7",
      "slug": "everything-is-good",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/everything-is-good",
      "text": "Everything is good as it leaves the hands of the Author of things, everything degenerates in the hands of man.'",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "human nature",
          "slug": "human-nature",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature"
        },
        {
          "name": "nature",
          "slug": "nature",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/nature"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_I",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:16"
    },
    {
      "id": "ebff0d62-6503-43ea-8a5e-958cc106db2c",
      "slug": "i-am-commencing",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/confessions/i-am-commencing",
      "text": "I am commencing an undertaking, hitherto without precedent, and which will never find an imitator. I desire to set before my fellows the likeness of a man in all the truth of nature, and that man myself.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "truth",
          "slug": "truth",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth"
        },
        {
          "name": "self-knowledge",
          "slug": "self-knowledge",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/self-knowledge"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Confessions_(Rousseau)#Quotes",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:02:04"
    },
    {
      "id": "be855837-c543-48fa-b0ae-e1d4680f5d7b",
      "slug": "it-is-nearly",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/confessions/it-is-nearly",
      "text": "It is nearly always good, but badly-directed principles, that make a child take the first step towards evil. In spite of continual privations and temptations, I had been more than a year with my master without being able to make up my mind to take anything, even eatables. My first theft was a matter of obliging someone else, but it opened the door to others, the motive of which was not so praiseworthy.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "children",
          "slug": "children",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/children"
        },
        {
          "name": "upbringing",
          "slug": "upbringing",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/upbringing"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Confessions_(Rousseau)#Quotes",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:02:04"
    },
    {
      "id": "90cbb4c6-3cc3-4298-bd8f-2e315e1e5960",
      "slug": "failure-to-please",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/confessions/failure-to-please",
      "text": "Failure to please grieved me more than punishment, and signs of dissatisfaction hurt me more than corporal chastisement.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "upbringing",
          "slug": "upbringing",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/upbringing"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Confessions_(Rousseau)#Quotes",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:02:04"
    },
    {
      "id": "5d0218aa-d7ca-40c7-b952-c5854c549950",
      "slug": "i-find-no-compulsion",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/confessions/i-find-no-compulsion",
      "text": "I find no compulsion more terrible than the obligation of speaking continuously and on the spur of the moment. I do not know whether this has anything to do with my mortal aversion to constraint of any kind; but to be absolutely obliged to speak is enough to make me infallibly talk nonsense.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "conversation",
          "slug": "conversation",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conversation"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Confessions_(Rousseau)#Quotes",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:02:04"
    }
  ]
}
