Reading "The Social contract" again

"When someone is brought up to command others, everything conspires to rob him of justice and reason. Great pains are taken, we are told, to teach young princes the art of ruling; but it does not appear that this eudcation does them any good. It would be better to begin by teaching them the art of obeying."

"But if, according to Plato, a born king is a very rare being- how often do Nature and Fortune combine to enthrone such a man? And if a royal education necessarily corrupts those who receive it, what must be expected of a succession of men brought up to rule?"

"...to assume in his own favour the tacit consent of those whose mouth are closed by fear and to punish those who dare to speak. It was thus that the decemvirs. having been first elected for one year, and then continued for another, tried to retain thier power in perpetuity, by no longer allowing the comitia to assemble."

"In proportion as the enlargement of the state means offering the holders of public authority more temptations and more opportunities to abuse thier power, it follows that the more power the government needs to control the people, the more power the sovereign needs, in its turn, to control the government."