Patience patience quotes is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
Jean-Jacques RousseauRead
The English think they are free. They are free only during the election of members of parliament.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the limited nature of freedom in a democratic society, suggesting that true freedom is often an illusion.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau critiques the perception of freedom among the English, highlighting that while they believe they are free, their freedom is confined to the electoral process. This statement implies that true autonomy and liberty extend beyond mere participation in elections and challenge the notion that democratic systems provide authentic freedom.
Themes
FreedomElectionDemocracyIllusionLiberty
In practice
Example use cases
During a political debate, one might quote Rousseau to emphasize the superficial nature of electoral freedom.
More from Jean-Jacques Rousseau
All quotes βThe infant, on opening his eyes, ought to see his country, and to the hour of his death never lose sight of it.
Jean-Jacques RousseauRead
What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?
Jean-Jacques RousseauRead
O love, if I regret the age when one savors you, it is not for the hour of pleasure, but for the one that follows it.
Jean-Jacques RousseauRead
Those people who treat politics and morality separately will never understand either of them.
Jean-Jacques RousseauRead
As evening approached, I came down from the heights of the island, and I liked then to go and sit on the shingle in some secluded spot by the lake; there the noise of the waves and the movement of the water, taking hold of my senses and driving all other agitation from my soul, would plunge me into delicious reverie in which night often stole upon me unawares.
Jean-Jacques RousseauRead
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If oxen and lions had hands and could paint with their hands and produce works of art, as men do, horses would paint the forms of the gods likes horses and oxen like oxen. Each would represent them with bodies according to the bodies of each. So the Ethiopians make their gods black and snub-nosed; the Thracians give theirs red hair and blue eyes.
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Where misunderstanding serves others as an advantage, one is helpless to make oneself understood.
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