Q0252
“Everything is good as it leaves the hands of the Author of…” — Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Émile I)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: Émile I. Theme: nature.
English
Everything is good as it leaves the hands of the Author of things; everything degenerates in the hands of man.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to Émile I and files it under Social Contract Theory. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
About Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) was a Genevan-born philosopher and novelist of the French Enlightenment who unsettled its confidence in progress. Discourses on inequality and the arts, Émile, and The Social Contract made him famous and persecuted.
How to read this passage
Nature may mean physical cosmos, living world, human nature, or a normative standard of what ought to be. Presocratics, Daoists, Stoics, and modern environmental thinkers share the word while disagreeing about its force. This passage enters that discussion through nature, education.
Concepts in this quote
- Nature
- Philosophy quotes about nature ask what the cosmos is, how humans belong in it, and whether “natural” can guide ethics or politics.
- Education
- Education appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat education as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Jean-Jacques Rousseau. (n.d.). Everything is good as it leaves the hands of the Author of things; everything degenerates in the hands of man. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0252
MLA: Jean-Jacques Rousseau. “Everything is good as it leaves the hands….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0252.
Chicago: Jean-Jacques Rousseau. “Everything is good as it leaves the hands….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0252.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “Everything is good as it leaves the hands…”?
The passage is attributed to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Émile I. The archive attributes this English wording to Émile I and files it under Social Contract Theory. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
What does Jean-Jacques Rousseau mean by nature?
Nature may mean physical cosmos, living world, human nature, or a normative standard of what ought to be. Presocratics, Daoists, Stoics, and modern environmental thinkers share the word while disagreeing about its force. This passage enters that discussion through nature, education.