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“The first man who, having enclosed a piece of ground, bethought himself of saying “This is mine”, and found people simple enough to believe him, was the real founder of civil society.
From how many crimes, wars, and murders, from how many horrors and misfortunes might not any one have saved mankind, by pulling up the stakes, or filling up the ditch, and crying to his fellows?:
“Beware of listening to this imposter; you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the Earth belong to us all, and the Earth itself to nobody”.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (June 28, 1712 – July 2, 1778) was a Franco-Swiss philosopher of Enlightenment whose political ideas influenced the French Revolution.
MORE QUOTES from Rousseau:
“A country cannot subsist well without liberty, nor liberty without virtue. ”
“Virtue is a state of war, and to live in it means one always has some battle to wage against oneself.”
“Men, be kind to your fellow-men; this is your first duty, kind to every age and station, kind to all that is not foreign to humanity. What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?”
Read more about Rousseau — http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau