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A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 

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Jean-Jacques Rousseau – 15 November 2008
By Mary T. Hoffman

“Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s greatest work, Social Contract, begins with this statement. He goes on to describe how in ancient times the people had given to their tribal leader the right to rule over them. The monarch’s right to rule, Rousseau claimed, was given him by the people and not by God, and the people could take back that right if the monarch ruled badly. The book also described an ideal state of society in which there was neither king nor parliament, and in which the citizens made their own laws.

Another thought-provoking statement by Rousseau is: “A country cannot subsist well without liberty, nor liberty without virtue.”

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the great French writer and philosopher of the Enlightenment, was born in Geneva, Switzerland 28 June 1712. He lived in or near Paris from 1770 until his death 2 July 1778.

For a large collection of quotations, visit:
http://www.all-creatures.org/quote.html

Go on to: Thought for Today – 16 November 2008
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