"What I had to say was so clear and I felt it so deeply that I am amazed by the tediousness, repetitiousness, verbiage, and disorder of this writing. What would have made it lively and vehement coming from another's pen is precisely what has made it dull and slack coming from mine. The subject was myself, and I no longer found on my own interest that zeal and vigor of courage which can exalt a generous soul only for another person's cause."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from FrancePhilosophers from FranceAcademics from SwitzerlandPhilosophers from SwitzerlandBiologists from France
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
On the Subject and Form of This Writing; translated by Judith R. Bush, Christopher Kelly, Roger D. Masters
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
1712 – 1778
französisch-schweizerischer Schriftsteller und Philosoph
179 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Jean-Jacques Rousseau →
Related Quotes
"...when I see animals born free and despising captivity break their heads against the bars of their prison; when I se…"
"When alone, I have never known what it is to feel weary, even when I am entirely unemployed; my imagination fills up …"
"Chère amie, ne savez-vous pas que la vertu est un état de guerre, et que, pour y vivre, on a toujours quelque combat …"
"A country cannot subsist well without liberty, nor liberty without virtue."
"Days of absence, sad and dreary, Clothed in sorrow's dark array,— Days of absence, I am weary: She I love is far away."
"L'accent est l'âme du discours."
"All that time is lost which might be better employed."
"As a general rule—never substitute the symbol for the thing signified, unless it is impossible to show the thing itse…"
"Let's go dance under the elms: Step lively, young lassies. Let's go dance under the elms: Gallants, take up your pipes."
"An honest man nearly always thinks justly."