"My first appearance led me by a new path into another intellectual world, the simple and lofty economy of which I was unable to look upon without enthusiasm. My continued attention to it soon convinced me, that there was nothing but error and folly in the doctrine of our philosophers, and misery and oppression in our social arrangements. Deluded by my foolish pride, I thought that I was born to destroy all these illusions, and, believing that, in order to gain a hearing, it was necessary for my manner of life to harmonise with my principles, I adopted the singular course which I have not been permitted to continue, in which I set an example for which my pretended friends have never forgiven me, which at first made me ridiculous, and would have ended by making me respectable, if it had been possible for me to persevere in it."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Confessions_(Rousseau)
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Confessions (Rousseau)
153 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Confessions (Rousseau) →
Related Quotes
"I know nothing which exercises a more powerful influence upon my heart than an act of courage, performed at an opport…"
"I can understand how it is that the inhabitants of cities, who see nothing but walls, streets and crimes, have so lit…"
"I have learned to doubt whether a man, who is the possessor of a large fortune, whoever he may be, can be sincerely f…"
"An enemy to everything that comes under the denomination of party, faction, and cabal, I have never expected any good…"
"So difficult is it to manage the irritable amour-propre of literary men, and such great care is necessary, in paying …"
"It is in the country that one learns to love and serve humanity; one only learns to despise it in cities."
"for the first time since the existence of the world, an author permits himself, by a single stroke of the pen, to mak…"
"I might have thrown myself entirely into the most lucrative path, and, instead of lowering my pen to copying, I might…"
"It is too difficult to think nobly, when one thinks only in order to live. In order to be able and to venture to utte…"
"There is no soul so vile, no heart so barbarous, that it is not susceptible of some kind of attachment."