It is but few general laws that civilised life requires, and those of such common usefulness, that whether they are enforced by the forms of government or not, the effect will be nearly the same.
From "Rights of Man," this passage asserts that civilized life needs only a few universally useful laws, whose effectiveness is largely independent of governmental enforcement.
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A knowledge of the practice was then joined to the theory; and all that was wanting to give it real existence was opportunity.
In fine, society performs for itself almost everything which is ascribed to government.
Man cannot, properly speaking, make circumstances for his purpose, but he always has it in his power to improve them when they occur, and this was the case in France.