"Our greatest evils flow from ourselves"

This quote by Jean-Jacques Rousseau suggests that the source of our greatest suffering and pain is ourselves. He indicates that our own actions and decisions are the cause of our biggest evils. This might be interpreted in many ways, such as our own selfishness, greed, and absence of empathy resulting in suffering for ourselves and others. It might likewise describe our own lack of knowledge and lack of understanding, leading to mistakes and bad choices that have negative effects. Eventually, Rousseau is recommending that we have the power to develop our own suffering, and that we must strive to be more conscious of our actions and decisions in order to prevent creating our own greatest evils.