Book I

I mean to inquire if, in the civil order, there can be any sure and legitimate rule of administration, men being taken as they are and laws as they might be. In this inquiry I shall endeavour always to unite what right sanctions with what is prescribed by interest, in order that justice and utility may in no case be divided.

I want to explore whether any reliable and legitimate rule of government is possible in civil society. I will take people as they are and laws as they might be. In this inquiry, I will always try to bring together what is right and what serves people's interests. My aim is to ensure that justice and practical benefit are never separated.

I enter upon my task without proving the importance of the subject I shall be asked if I am a prince or a legislator, to write on politics. I answer that I am neither, and that is why I do so. If I were a prince or a legislator, I should not waste time in saying what wants doing; I should do it, or hold my peace.

I begin my task without proving the importance of the subject. People will ask whether I am a prince or a lawmaker, since I write about politics. I answer that I am neither, and that is why I write. If I were a prince or a lawmaker, I would not waste time saying what needs to be done. I would do it or keep quiet.

As I was born a citizen of a free State, and a member of the Sovereign, I feel that, however feeble the influence my voice can have on public affairs, the right of voting on them makes it my duty to study them: and I am happy, when I reflect upon governments, to find my inquiries always furnish me with new reasons for loving that of my own country.

I was born a citizen of a free State and a member of the Sovereign. So, however little influence my voice may have on public affairs, I feel my right to vote makes studying them my duty. And when I think about governments, I am happy with what my inquiries reveal. My inquiries always give me new reasons to love my own country's government.