- Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. The Social Contract
- To find a form of association which will defend and protect with the whole common force the person and goods of each associate, and in which each, while uniting himself with all, may still obey himself alone, and remain as free as before. The Social Contract
- Any law which the people have not ratified in person is null; it is not a law. The Social Contract
- When the people, being subjected to necessity, obey, they do well; but when they can shake off the yoke, and they do so, they do better. The Social Contract
- Sovereignty cannot be represented for the same reason that it cannot be alienated; it consists essentially in the general will, and the will cannot be represented. The Social Contract