48. Three aphorisms from Germaine de Staël (1766-1817), Reflections on the French Revolution, 1818; Beccaria, On Crimes and Punishments; and Rousseau, Reveries of a Solitary Walker, 178279

Those rights which are inalienable are equality before the law, freedom of the individual, freedom of the press, freedom of worship, equal access to all kinds of work, and taxation as agreed by the representatives of the people.

Germaine de Staël

Portrait of Madame de Staël by François Gérard (c.1810): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madame_de_Staël.jpg

Do you want to prevent crime? Then ensure that Enlightenment goes hand in hand with freedom. The evils engendered by knowledge are inversely proportional to the extent to which any of it is actually disseminated, and the benefits directly proportional. A brazen imposter, never a man of the people himself, will always be adored by the ignorant but derided by the enlightened.

Beccaria

It is strength and liberty which produce excellent men. Weakness and slavery have only ever produced wicked ones.

Rousseau

---