"Thus began to grow and appear in me this heart at once so haugty and so tender, and this character, effeminate, yet indomitable, which, always hovering between weakness and courage, between dalliance and virtue have all my life long placed me in contradiction with myself and caused me to miss both abstinence and enjoyment, pleasure and self-control." - Jean-Jacque Rousseau, from Davidson's Rousseau and Education According to Nature, 28

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva, Switzerland to Issac Rousseau and his wife, Suzanne nee Bernard. He was the second son born to the Protestant couple. Rousseau's parents belonged to the citoyen class of Geneva, the highest ranking of five social classes. His father was a watchmaker by trade; the grandson of an immigrant from Paris who settled in Geneva around 1530. Rousseau's mother died while giving birth to him, which prohibited her from influencing his life in any educational or social manner; and left him to the care of his father alone.

However, young Rousseau was taken under the care of his aunt, his mother's sister, shortly after birth. Under the care of his sympathetic and gentle aunt, Rousseau learned to read and write at a young age. He was not permitted to "go out and mix with other children in the street (Davidson, 27)," and therefore grew to be a boy of a caring, curious, and independent disposition.

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