I can only meditate when I am walking. When I stop I cease to think; my mind only works with my legs.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau

“Les Reveries of the Solitary Walker (French: Les rêveries du Promeneur Solitaire) is an unfinished book by Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, written between 1776 and 1778. It was the last of a number of works composed toward the end of his life which were deeply autobiographical in nature. …

The book is divided into ten chapters called “Walks” (“Promenades” in the original French). Walks One to Seven are complete, the Eighth and Ninth Walks were completed but not revised by Rousseau, while the Tenth Walk was incomplete at the author’s death. The first publication was in 1782.

The content of the book is a mix of autobiographical anecdote, descriptions of the sights, especially plants, that Rousseau saw in his walks on the outskirts of Paris, and elaborations and extensions of arguments previously made by Rousseau in fields like education and political philosophy.

The work is in large parts marked by serenity and resignation, but also bears witness to Rousseau’s awareness of the ill-effects of persecution towards the end of his life.” (credit)

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