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Natural man is entirely for himself. He is numerical unity, the absolute whole which is relative only to itself or its kind. Civil man is only a fractional unity dependent on the denominator; his value is determined by his relation to the whole, which is the social body.

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau Emile (1762)

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More quotes by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains.

Virtue is a state of war, and to live in it means one always has some battle to wage against oneself.

Every blue-stocking will remain a spinster as long as there are sensible men on the earth.

Money is the source of all the false ideas of society.

A blue-stocking is the scourge of her husband, children, friends, servants, and every one.

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