Happy birthday, Rousseau.

Ramsay, Rousseau, 1766

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born on this day in 1712.

The more I study the works of men in their institutions, the more clearly I see that, in their efforts after independence, they become slaves, and that their very freedom is wasted in vain attempts to assure its continuance. That they may not be carried away by the flood of things, they form all sorts of attachments; then as soon as they wish to move forward they are surprised to find that everything drags them back. It seems to me that to set oneself free we need do nothing, we need only continue to desire freedom.  The more ingenious our apparatus, the coarser and more unskillful are our senses.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, from Emile