Now of all the pursuits by which a man may earn his living, the nearest to a state of nature is manual labour; of all stations that of the artisan is least dependent on Fortune.  The artisan depends on his labour alone, he is a free man while the ploughman is a slave; for the latter depends on his field where the crops may be destroyed by others.  An enemy, a prince, a powerful neighbour, or a law-suit may deprive him of his field; through this field he may be harassed in all sorts of ways.  But if the artisan is ill-treated his goods are soon packed and he takes himself off.  Yet agriculture is the earliest, the most honest of trades, and more useful than all the rest, and therefore more honourable for those who practise it.  I do not say to Emile, “Study agriculture,” he is already familiar with it.  He is acquainted with every kind of rural labour, it was his first occupation, and he returns to it continually.  So I say to him, “Cultivate your father’s lands, but if you lose this inheritance, or if you have none to lose, what will you do?  Learn a trade.”

“A trade for my son!  My son a working man!  What are you thinking of, sir?” Madam, my thoughts are wiser than yours; you want to make him fit for nothing but a lord, a marquis, or a prince; and some day he may be less than nothing.  I want to give him a rank which he cannot lose, a rank which will always do him honour; I want to raise him to the status of a man, and, whatever you may say, he will have fewer equals in that rank than in your own.

The letter killeth, the spirit giveth life.  Learning a trade matters less than overcoming the prejudices he despises.  You will never be reduced to earning your livelihood; so much the worse for you.  No matter; work for honour, not for need:  stoop to the position of a working man, to rise above your own.  To conquer Fortune and everything else, begin by independence.  To rule through public opinion, begin by ruling over it.

Remember I demand no talent, only a trade, a genuine trade, a mere mechanical art, in which the hands work harder than the head, a trade which does not lead to fortune but makes you independent of her.  In households far removed from all danger of want I have known fathers carry prudence to such a point as to provide their children not only with ordinary teaching but with knowledge by means of which they could get a living if anything happened.  These far-sighted parents thought they were doing a great thing.  It is nothing, for the resources they fancy they have secured depend on that very fortune of which they would make their children independent; so that unless they found themselves in circumstances fitted for the display of their talents, they would die of hunger as if they had none.