The body politic, like the human body, begins to die from its birth, and bears in itself the cause of its destruction.
Authentication Score 2
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.
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.