It is too difficult to think nobly when we think for a livelihood.
 Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Confessions (1782). copy citation

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Author Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Source Confessions
Topic thought
Date 1782
Language English
Reference
Note Translated by Samuel William Orson
Weblink https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Confessions_(Rousseau)

Context

“and instead of a distinguished author, which I might possibly become, I should have been nothing more than a scribbler. No: I have always felt that the profession of letters was illustrious in proportion as it was less a trade. It is too difficult to think nobly when we think for a livelihood. To be able to dare even to speak great truths, an author must be independent of success. I gave my books to the public with a certainty of having written for the general good of mankind, without giving myself the least concern about what was to follow.” source