--- title: "2 Jean-jacques Rousseau Quotes By Tom Reiss" description: "2 Jean-jacques Rousseau quotes by Tom Reiss. Plus more from Tom Reiss and more Jean-jacques Rousseau sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cce/tom-reiss-15466_absolute-monarchy_man-is-born-free-but-is-everywhere-in-ch_415507.jpg" --- > [“Man is born free but is everywhere in chains,” wrote Jean-Jacques Rousseau in The Social Contract in 1762. A generation of crusading lawyers put Enlightenment principles into action by helping slaves sue for the right to be treated as ordinary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-reiss/man-is-born-free-but-is-everywhere-in-chains-wrote-jean-jacques/) [Tom Reiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-reiss/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cce/tom-reiss-15466_absolute-monarchy_man-is-born-free-but-is-everywhere-in-ch_415507.jpg) > [“French Enlightenment philosophers liked to use slavery as a symbol of human oppression, and particularly political oppression. “Man is born free but is everywhere in chains,” wrote Jean-Jacques Rousseau in The Social Contract in 1762. A generation of crusading lawyers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-reiss/french-enlightenment-philosophers-liked-to-use-slavery-as-a-symbol-of/) [Tom Reiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-reiss/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a53/tom-reiss-15466_born-free_french-enlightenment-philosophers-liked_2076073.jpg) ## More by Tom Reiss > [“At first, the Jacobin Club was not the most radical club. It was known for its lively, collegial debates and for attracting diverse and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-reiss/at-first-the-jacobin-club-was-not-the-most-radical-club-it-was-known/) [Tom Reiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-reiss/) > [“energized and emboldened delegates of the Third Estate, the “99 percent”—in reality, closer to 96 percent—of the French population who paid the bulk of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-reiss/energized-and-emboldened-delegates-of-the-third-estate-the-99-percent/) [Tom Reiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-reiss/) > [“Suddenly Paris fashion-that bellwether for the French mind-had to be à l'Amérique: tailors manufactured "insurgent coats" and "lightning-conductor dresses" (in honor of Ben Franklin,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-reiss/suddenly-paris-fashion-that-bellwether-for-the-french-mind-had-to-be/) [Tom Reiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-reiss/) > [“The way it had originally worked was that each of the three estates got an equal say: each had an equal number of “deputies”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-reiss/the-way-it-had-originally-worked-was-that-each-of-the-three-estates/) [Tom Reiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-reiss/) > [“The bitter irony was that the financial crisis had largely been caused by French support of the American patriots; in getting back at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-reiss/the-bitter-irony-was-that-the-financial-crisis-had-largely-been/) [Tom Reiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-reiss/) > [“Man is born free but is everywhere in chains,” wrote Jean-Jacques Rousseau in The Social Contract in 1762. A generation of crusading lawyers put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-reiss/man-is-born-free-but-is-everywhere-in-chains-wrote-jean-jacques/) [Tom Reiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-reiss/) > [“When they weren’t running meat—or rum—they worked as salt miners or piloted small boats along the coast. These highland Saint-Dominguans, along with more recent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-reiss/when-they-weren-t-running-meat-or-rum-they-worked-as-salt-miners-or/) [Tom Reiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-reiss/) > [“Unhappiness cannot but draw tighter the bonds which hold us fast to one another," General Dumas had written to Marie-Louise as he made his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-reiss/unhappiness-cannot-but-draw-tighter-the-bonds-which-hold-us-fast-to/) [Tom Reiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-reiss/) > [“Wednesday, June 17, 1789, France went from a system where only the nobility and the church had power to a system where, at least…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-reiss/wednesday-june-17-1789-france-went-from-a-system-where-only-the/) [Tom Reiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-reiss/) > [“in 1788, he had become infatuated by the American republic and its spirit of “simplicity, goodness, and that dignity of man which is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-reiss/in-1788-he-had-become-infatuated-by-the-american-republic-and-its/) [Tom Reiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-reiss/) > [“Alex Dumas had the confidence that accompanies a life of physical exploits, along with an unwavering faith in the rightness of his actions that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-reiss/alex-dumas-had-the-confidence-that-accompanies-a-life-of-physical/) [Tom Reiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-reiss/) > [“This mulatto gentleman could powder and dress as he liked, however, because he was acknowledged to be the greatest swordsman in Europe. Over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-reiss/this-mulatto-gentleman-could-powder-and-dress-as-he-liked-however/) [Tom Reiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-reiss/) > [“the concept, going back to the misty foundations of the nation, that France was the land of the free—that no one should be kept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-reiss/the-concept-going-back-to-the-misty-foundations-of-the-nation-that/) [Tom Reiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-reiss/) > [“Meanwhile, Napoleon’s younger brother, Lucien Bonaparte, had managed to get himself elected to the Council of Five Hundred—and was even made its president. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-reiss/meanwhile-napoleon-s-younger-brother-lucien-bonaparte-had-managed-to/) [Tom Reiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-reiss/) > [“...the former King Louis XVI, who, after titles were abolished, was now simply called "Louis Capet" - a mocking reference to his distant ancestor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-reiss/the-former-king-louis-xvi-who-after-titles-were-abolished-was-now/) [Tom Reiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-reiss/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jean-jacques-rousseau/tom-reiss/#itemlist", "name": "2 Jean-jacques Rousseau Quotes By Tom Reiss", "numberOfItems": 2, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Man is born free but is everywhere in chains,” wrote Jean-Jacques Rousseau in The Social Contract in 1762. 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