Jean-Jacques Rousseau on liberty

To write a good love letter, you ought to begin without knowing what you mean to say and to finish without knowing what you have written.

What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?

It is in man’s heart that the life of nature’s spectacle exists; to see it, one must feel it.

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

Thomas Jefferson1743–1826Letter to William Stephens Smith (13 November 1787). Manuscript at the Library of Congress.

• War & Peace

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Benjamin Franklin1706–1790This was first used by Franklin for the Pennsylvania Assembly in its “Reply to the Governor” (November 11, 1755) Reply to the Governor

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.

Benjamin Franklin1706–1790