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7 - Advice to his daughter (written in hiding March 1794)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Edited by
Steven Lukes  and
Nadia Urbinati
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Summary

My child, if as a baby you were sometimes comforted by my loving care, and if your heart preserves the memory of those moments, I hope you will place your trust in this advice, which is prompted by my love for you, and that it will help you to be happy.

Whatever the circumstances in which you read these lines, which I am writing far away from you, indifferent as to my own fate but preoccupied by yours and your mother’s, remember that nothing can guarantee that those circumstances will last.

Get into the habit of working, so that you are self-sufi cient and need no external help. Work will provide for your needs; and though you may become poor, you will never become dependent on others.

Even if you never need to use your skills, they will at least prevent you from worrying, bolster your courage and help you face up to the setbacks which fortune may have in store for you.

Knowing that you can do without riches, you will place less store by them. This will help protect you from the unhappiness to which men expose themselves in order to acquire wealth, or for fear of losing it.

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Chapter
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Condorcet: Political Writings , pp. 196 - 204
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2012

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