The heart of man is always correct on everything that does not relate to him personally. In quarrels to which we are purely spectators, we instantly take the side of justice, and there is no act of meanness that does not give us sharp indignation, as long as we do not derive any profit from it: but when our interest is mixed up in it, soon our feelings are corrupted; and it is only then that we prefer the evil that is useful to us to the good that makes us love nature.
(Quoted from page 40 of Rousseau Among the Moderns, by Julia Simon. The Pennsylvania University Press, 2013.)
For a brief biography of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, click here. For images of or relating to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, click here.
For a brief biography of Julia Simon, click here. For images of or relating to Julia Simon, click here.
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