The body politic, like the human body, begins to die from its birth, and bears in itself… — Jean-Jacques Rousseau
The body politic, like the human body, begins to die from its birth, and bears in itself the cause of its destruction.
In the original French
Le corps polititque, aussi bien que le corps de l'homme, commence a mourir des sa naissance et port en lui-meme les causes de sa destruction.
The Social Contract · 1762
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Current citation
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. "Of the Social Contract." Of the Social Contract and Other Political Writings, translated by Quintin Hoare. Penguin Classics, 2012, bk. 3, ch. 11.
Original citation
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Du contrat social ou Principes du droit politique [On the Social Contract or Principles of Political Law]. Amsterdam: Marc Michel Rey, 1762, bk. 3, ch. 11.