--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The political body, therefore, is also a…" description: "\"The political body, therefore, is also a moral being which has a will; and this general will, which tends always to the conservation and well-being of ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3b/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_body_the-political-body-therefore-is-also-a-m_787376.jpg" --- # The political body, therefore, is also a moral being which… ![“The political body, therefore, is also a moral being which has a will; and this general will, which tends always to the conservation and well-being of the whole and of each part of it ... is, for all members of the state ... the rule of what is just or unjust.” quote by Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3b/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_body_the-political-body-therefore-is-also-a-m_787376.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3b/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_body_the-political-body-therefore-is-also-a-m_787376.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3b/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_body_the-political-body-therefore-is-also-a-m_787376.jpg) > “The political body, therefore, is also a moral being which has a will; and this general will, which tends always to the conservation and well-being of the whole and of each part of it ... is, for all members of the state ... the rule of what is just or unjust.” [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Society is a moral entity with a collective will aiming at the common good and justice for all parts. **In simple terms:** Society should act for the whole's benefit. Key Takeaway Promote the common good. Themes politics morality collective will Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical political When to use this quote - legislation - public policy - community decisions - education - leadership Key Concepts social contract justice common good Questions to Reflect On - What defines the 'general will' today? - How to reconcile personal interests with the common good? A Different Perspective Balancing individual freedoms with collective goals can be contentious. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Body Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body-moral-993817/) [Conservation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservation/) [Members](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/members/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Moral General](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-general-4456870/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Political Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political-body-3012897/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [State Rule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/state-rule-4104739/) [States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states/) [Unjust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unjust/) [Well being](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/well-being/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole/) ## Related quotes > [We cannot build foundations of a state without rule of law.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahmoud-abbas/we-cannot-build-foundations-of-a-state-without-rule-of-law/) [Mahmoud Abbas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahmoud-abbas/) > [Knowledge of birth control is essentially moral. 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Alchemists can turn lead into gold and nobody wonders about how it will impact the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/soft-fantasy-worlds-have-a-much-looser-cause-and-effect-relationship/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [Conservation and rural-life policies are really two sides of the same policy; and down at the bottom this policy rests upon the fundamental law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/conservation-and-rural-life-policies-are-really-two-sides-of-the-same/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [I believe humans have souls, and I believe in the conservation of souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-believe-humans-have-souls-and-i-believe-in-the-conservation-of-souls/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“In the United States law, federally designated wilderness is famously defined as 'an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-marris/in-the-united-states-law-federally-designated-wilderness-is-famously/) [Emma Marris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-marris/) ## More by Jean-Jacques Rousseau > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Take the course opposite to custom and you will almost always do well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/take-the-course-opposite-to-custom-and-you-will-almost-always-do-well/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Everything we do not have at our birth and which we need when we are grown is given to us by education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/everything-we-do-not-have-at-our-birth-and-which-we-need-when-we-are/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [The first person who, having enclosed a plot of land, took it into his head to say this is mine and found people simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-first-person-who-having-enclosed-a-plot-of-land-took-it-into-his/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [...in respect of riches, no citizen shall ever be wealthy enough to buy another, and none poor enough to be forced to sell himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/in-respect-of-riches-no-citizen-shall-ever-be-wealthy-enough-to-buy/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Take from the philosopher the pleasure of being heard and his desire for knowledge ceases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/take-from-the-philosopher-the-pleasure-of-being-heard-and-his-desire/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Men, in general, are not this or that, they are what they are made to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/men-in-general-are-not-this-or-that-they-are-what-they-are-made-to-be/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [I would rather be a man of paradoxes than a man of prejudices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/i-would-rather-be-a-man-of-paradoxes-than-a-man-of-prejudices/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [“O Fabricius! What would your great soul have thought, if to your own misfortune you had been called back to life and had seen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/o-fabricius-what-would-your-great-soul-have-thought-if-to-your-own/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [“The sword wears out its sheath, as it is sometimes said. That is my story. My passions have made me live, and my passions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-sword-wears-out-its-sheath-as-it-is-sometimes-said-that-is-my/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Whence do I get my rules of conduct? I find them in my heart. Whatever I feel to be good is good. Whatever I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/whence-do-i-get-my-rules-of-conduct-i-find-them-in-my-heart-whatever/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [“If one divided all of human science into two parts - the one common to all men, the other particular to the learned -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/if-one-divided-all-of-human-science-into-two-parts-the-one-common-to/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [The social compact sets up among the citizens as equality of such kind, that they all bind themselves to observe the same conditions and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-social-compact-sets-up-among-the-citizens-as-equality-of-such/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [I do not know is a phrase which becomes us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/i-do-not-know-is-a-phrase-which-becomes-us/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [“How could I become wicked, when I had nothing but examples of gentleness before my eyes, and none around me but the best people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/how-could-i-become-wicked-when-i-had-nothing-but-examples-of/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) [Explore all 518 Jean-Jacques Rousseau quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) ## More Body quotes > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. 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My work requires it - but I myself have no need or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsden-hartley/it-is-the-incongruous-thing-in-my-entire-life-this-isolation-my-work/) [Marsden Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsden-hartley/) > [My friends, this body - perhaps more than any other gathering in human history - now faces that difficult task.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/my-friends-this-body-perhaps-more-than-any-other-gathering-in-human/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) [Browse all 20,814 Body quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The political body, therefore, is also a moral being which has a will; and this general will, which tends always to the conservation and well-being of the whole and of each part of it ... is, for all members of the state ... the rule of what is just or unjust.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jean-Jacques Rousseau" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-political-body-therefore-is-also-a-moral-being-which-has-a-will/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Body" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-political-body-therefore-is-also-a-moral-being-which-has-a-will/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3b/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_body_the-political-body-therefore-is-also-a-m_787376.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3b/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_body_the-political-body-therefore-is-also-a-m_787376.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3b/jean-jacques-rousseau-418_body_the-political-body-therefore-is-also-a-m_787376.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The political body, therefore, is also a moral being which has a will; and this general will, which tends…” — Jean-Jacques Rousseau", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jean-Jacques Rousseau", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The political body, therefore, is also...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-political-body-therefore-is-also-a-moral-being-which-has-a-will/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-political-body-therefore-is-also-a-moral-being-which-has-a-will/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```